Jun 29
Excerpts from wandtv.co:
Gov. JB Pritzker has signed into a law a bill doubling death benefits for families of law enforcement officials and firefighters who have died. The cap for state reimbursements of burial costs has been moved to $20,000. It previously sat at $10,000 after previous law was established in 1999.
The law passed the Illinois House and went to Pritzker for his signature on June 14.
Wheeling and Prospect Heights firefighters were called for an outside fire near a house Thursday evening after a storm passed through the area. Companies arrived to find a primary power line down in the rear posing no threats to any structures. There was some impressive arcing prior to the arrival of crews from ComEd who rendered the situation safe.
Video was provided by Taylor Wallen.
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Excerpts from NFPA.org:
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released its annual “U.S. Firefighter Fatalities in the United States” report, which showed a total of 64 U.S. firefighter fatalities while on duty in 2018. This is the eighth time in the last 10 years that fewer than 70 on-duty deaths have occurred; the death toll is half what it was in the first five years that NFPA conducted this study.
Of the 64 fatalities, 34 were volunteer firefighters, 25 were career firefighters, four were employees or contractors for federal or state land management agencies, and one was a prison inmate.
Overexertion, stress, and medical issues accounted for by far the largest share of deaths. Of the 28 deaths in this category, 25 were classified as sudden cardiac deaths (usually heart attacks). While cardiac-related events have accounted for 44 percent of the on-duty deaths over the past 10 years, 2018 represents the third consecutive year that the toll has been below 30.
The second-largest share of on duty deaths typically results from road vehicle crashes, with 11 deaths in 2018. The death toll due to crashes is only slightly lower than the average 13 deaths per year that have occurred in crashes over the past 40-plus years, but in the same time-frame, fire department call volume has more than tripled.
One firefighter was murdered when responding to a fire call in 2018.
This report only reflects deaths that occur while victims are on-the-job, either as the result of traumatic injuries or onset of acute medical conditions,” said Fahy. “Studies have shown that years spent in the fire service can take a toll on a firefighter’s health, both physical and emotional, and can also result in exposures to toxins that eventually result in job-related cancer, cardiac, and suicide deaths that are not represented in this report.”
A comprehensive study that enumerates all duty-related deaths in a year is not yet possible to accomplish.
This firefighter fatality study is made possible by the cooperation and assistance of the United States fire service, CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the United States Fire Administration, the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
For this release and other announcements about NFPA initiatives, research and resources, please visit the NFPA press room.
Excerpts from wgntv.com:
Metro South Medical Center located in Blue Island announced to the state Tuesday it plans to cease operations by the end of the year. MetroSouth said patient numbers have dropped since 2014, on average filling a one-third of available in-patient beds. The hospital is the largest private employer in the area with over 800 workers.
A statement from CEO John Walsh, in part, said, “…the data is clear that patient needs have changed – here and across the country. Enormous half-empty hospitals are not what the future of health care looks like.”
MetroSouth points to six hospitals and emergency rooms within 10 miles of Blue Island to pick up the patient loads.
thanks Martin
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
In honor of National Home Fire Sprinkler Week, leaders from the Illinois fire service gathered to recognize seven communities who adopted codes within the last year that require fire sprinklers in all new single-family homes. The towns include Lake Forest, Crestwood, Elk Grove Village, Rock Island, Carol Stream, Wauconda, and Palatine.
Representatives from more than 100 other communities who have adopted the model codes also received a recognition plaque.
The event, hosted by Alsip Fire Department and Fire Sprinkler Fitters Local 281, was one of 50 held across the U.S. and Canada. The National Fire Protection Association and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition initiated this campaign to raise awareness of the growing dangers of home fires and the lifesaving benefits of home fire sprinklers.
For a complete list of communities that require home fire sprinklers, photos, facts and other resources, visit the Illinois Fire Sprinkler Coalition’s media page.
A highlight of the event was a fire and sprinkler side-by-side demonstration set up like the front of a home with two rooms and identical furniture. One was protected with a fire sprinkler. First, a fire was set in the unsprinklered room. In less than 90 seconds, flashover occurred where the entire room was engulfed in flames. Firefighters used a hose line to extinguish the fire.
Then, fire was set in the room protected with a sprinkler. In less than 30 seconds, heat from the fire activated the sprinkler which kept the fire from becoming deadly. Firefighters used only a pump can to make sure the fire was out. There was a dramatic difference between the two rooms after the fires. Everything was destroyed in the unsprinklered room, but there was very little damage in the sprinklered room.
Brand new CPD command van being completed
A brief video from the 40th Anniversary Memorial Service for AA Flight 191
This from Drew Smith:
Part of the area where Flight 191 crashed had several Quonset huts from the former Orchard Field (where O’Hare gets its “ORD” from). In one of those huts was Andy’s Auto Repair. In Des Plaines, my father operated Lee’s Brake and Clutch, an auto parts and machine shop. Andy was a loyal customer. I had made deliveries to Andy working for my father. Earlier in that fateful day my father had made a delivery to Andy. Speed ahead to 2009, the year my father died. I was cleaning out the shop when my brother asked if I knew what this was about showing me the attached invoice hanging on the wall on a small clipboard, the type we use for those deliveries. It brought back memories of that day.
I had taken in the crash as a high school senior preparing to graduate. I had completed the High School District 214 Fire Cadet program conducted by the Mount Prospect FD. Back then you could buff or fan a fire with your own gear and find work to do. Not this time. Once the main fire was out there wasn’t much left.
The area of the crash was in the Elk Grove Township Fire Protection District and they had just went into operation as a FD in January of the same year, not even six months in operation. I was passing DPFD Station 3 (now 63) and saw the header. 61, 71, and 81 were all still in quarters. I thought it might be a tank farm fire as there had been a couple of them in the late 1970s. I turned onto Mount Prospect Road and started heading towards the header. Soon the rigs from Station 3 were passing me. As I got closer I still didn’t know what had happened but I knew it wasn’t a tank farm fire. I pulled up near the Chicago PD’s K-9 facility on Touhy Ave. adjacent to the crash site. I parked on the opposite side of the road and saw probably the most smoke I’ve ever seen, but not for long.
To this day, I vividly remember seeing the ARFF rigs (back then they were called CFR – Crash Fire Rescue) from O’Hare coming closer at a good pace. They barely slowed and drove into the tall chain link and barbed wire fence surrounding the K-9 facility and started to discharge their agent. When the smoke began to clear it was a scorched earth, Quonset huts and vehicles in that area reduced to a heap, and other than a few large components of the aircraft not much else. Nearly all of the fuselage was gone. I will refrain from describing the human remains that were present.
I have the original invoice stored with my many keepsakes. I’ll never know why my dad kept it hanging there all those years.
Strangely, there was another Flight 191 crash at DFW in 1985. In that incident 27 of the 164 souls on board lived.
May 25
Excerpts from the northwest-herald.com:
On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 departed from O’Hare Airport for Los Angeles. While accelerating on the runway, one of the underwing engines detached from the DC-10. The flight was airborne for 31 seconds before crashing into a field across Touhy Avenue and bursting into flames, killing all 271 on board plus two people on the ground.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the deadliest passenger aircraft crash on US soil, several hundred people gathered at Lake Park in Des Plaines, the site of a permanent memorial to those who perished that day. At 3:04PM, a bell was stuck 31 times, once for each second the ill-fated flight was in the air. The names of all who died were read, and two Chicago FD ARFF units then released four bursts of water over the memorial, representing each decade that has past.
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
May 19
This from Asher Heimermann:
The 22nd annual Lake County Fire Safety Expo was held on Saturday, May 18th at Gurnee Mills.
Fire apparatus and equipment from around Lake County were on display during the four-hour event and featured demonstrations from the Waukegan Fire Department Bomb Squad, Lake County High Angle Rescue Team, as well as an auto extrication demo and live fire side-by-side presentation.
Asher Heimermann photo
Asher Heimermann photo
Asher Heimermann photo
Asher Heimermann photo
Asher Heimermann photo
Asher Heimermann photo
You are currently browsing the archives for the Fire Service News category.
Firehousedecalsandmore