Excerpts from NBCchicago.com:
At least 94 employees of the Chicago Fire Department have tested positive for the coronavirus, of those, 18 members have already returned to duty. Nineteen are being quarantined after being exposed to someone with COVID-19.
On Monday, CFD buried Mario Araujo, the first member of the department to die from the coronavirus.
Apr 14
Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:
Hundreds of Chicago Fire Department personnel and law enforcement officers stood more than 6 feet apart on North Pulaski Road and saluted Monday morning as the hearse carrying Firefighter Mario Araujo traveled to a Northwest Side cemetery.
Araujo’s funeral was attended by a limited number of family members. Hundreds of his colleagues and supporters waited outside the funeral home and eventually joined in the procession to Montrose Cemetery, where a brief ceremony, featuring bagpipes and a 21-gun salute, took place in front of the crematorium. Araujo’s mother was presented with the Chicago flag that draped her son’s casket.
Araujo, 49, joined the fire department in October 2003 and spent most of his career on Truck 25, which operates out of Engine 102’s house in Rogers Park. He died April 7 after a battle with the coronavirus. He is the first member of the fire department to die of COVID-19.
Chicago FD Media photo
Chicago FD Media photo
Chicago FD Media photo
Excerpts from nbcchicago.com:
Several dozen members of the Chicago Fire Department have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the department to 46. Of those, nine employees have returned to duty as of Tuesday. Another 18 are currently quarantined after a confirmed exposure to the coronavirus.
When the department announced its first coronavirus case three weeks ago, the CFD was taking measures to protect its members from the disease, including dedicating specific ambulances for patients with suspected COVID-19. The department still has four ambulance dedicated for that purpose.
For now, all paramedics responding to respiratory calls or suspected COVID-19 patients are dressing in personal protective equipment including an N-95 mask, face shield and gloves. Paramedics who use a CPAP breathing machine on a patient, regardless of the call involving COVID-19, are sleeping in separate quarters to minimize possible exposure. Firehouses and ambulances are also undergoing thorough cleanings after contact with a coronavirus patient.
The Chicago police announced Tuesday that 112 of its members have tested positive for COVID-19. Last week a veteran undercover CPD officer died from the coronavirus.
Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:
Chicago firefighters responded to a fire in a single-story home about 10:20 a.m. in the 5300 block of South Wallace Street on Tuesday. A woman, about 60 years old, suffered third degree burns over the majority of her body and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.
Chicago Fire Department photo
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Firefighter Mario Araujo, 49, became the first Chicago firefighter that has died from the coronavirus. He worked in the Rogers Park neighborhood for more than 16 years.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford wrote on Twitter that Araujo joined the department in October 2003 and spent most of his career at Truck 25. The fire department did not say how Araujo contracted the virus. Langford said department officials will meet with the firefighters union “and look into details of (Araujo’s) death to see how it will be classified.”
Currently, 46 Chicago Fire Department employees have COVID-19.
Last week, Marco DiFranco, a 50-year-old Chicago police officer, died of the virus.
Though officials have not said how DiFranco contracted the disease, his death was classified as a line of duty death.
This from Steve Redick:
Shot this in 2007. It’s made from 10 images.
Steve Redick photo
Excerpts from fox32chicago.com:
Chicago’s beleaguered
first respondersfirefighters and paramedics will soon be getting some help, as nearly 36 new paramedics will be hitting the streets in the next couple of days after their training was accelerated.A no-frills swearing-in ceremony, with social distancing, of course, occurred for 34 new City of Chicago paramedics who were rushed through the fire academy to help battle coronavirus. The state-certified paramedics crammed 10 weeks of training into four weeks and will be reporting to firehouses across the city within the next four days.
The city also announced it has contracted with the Essex Hotel in the South Loop to provide 274 rooms for
first responderspolice officers, firefighters, and paramedics during the pandemic. The mayor says it’s not for those who become sick, but those who worry about unintentionally infecting their families.The mayor says the city is working on additional hotel accommodations for frontline healthcare workers. Altogether, the city is now renting more than 2,000 hotel rooms for people battling the virus.
Excerpts from nbcchicago.com:
A Chicago firefighter was injured at a 2-11 alarm fire that damaged three buildings Monday in Little Village on the Southwest Side. The blaze broke out about 2:16 a.m. at a two-flat residential building in the 2500 block of South Albany Avenue and spread to two adjacent buildings.
The firefighter was hit in the shoulder by part of a chimney and taken to a hospital in good condition with a minor injury. Ten residents were displaced .
This from Steve Redick:
Chicago Still & Box Alarm 4909 Cottage Grove
Excerpts from Chicago.cbslocal.com:
At least one Chicago firefighter is refusing to go on call Wednesday morning amid growing concerns about the coronavirus. This comes as a paramedic tested positive for COVID-19. The firefighters’ union wants the entire fire house where the infected paramedic worked to be shut down. The city isn’t revealing which firehouse was impacted.
The infected paramedic is now in quarantine along with his partner, and the firehouse has been deep cleaned. The city doesn’t believe the paramedic who tested positive contracted the virus while responding to a call. He worked his shift Saturday, starting feeling sick Sunday, and got a positive test Monday.
A source within the fire department said that firefighters are not getting the results of COVID-19 tests from people they come into contact with on the job, who are showing symptoms. This is leaving them unsure of whether or not to quarantine.
While the department has given firefighters and paramedics protective gear and masks, a source within the department says those masks haven’t been spray tested, which ensures a proper fit.
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
