This from Dennis McGuire, Jr. for #TBT:
Flash back to January 18th, 1994 when the high reached only 11 below zero, following a morning low of minus 21 and yielding a daily average temperature of minus 16. On Chicago’s south side, fire companies were battling a 2-11 in a 4 story apartment building at 8049-59 S St. Lawrence.
Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Dennis McGuire, Jr. took in a Still & Box Alarm last night. He submitted several images and a brief description:
Fire was thru the roof when Engine 121 arrived, appears to be some sort of explosion. The upper part of the 2nd floor exterior wall was blown out in Sector 4, and glass covered Western Ave. The building is a 2 Sty Brick Restaurant. The place is called Franconello’s.
A suspected gas leak sparked an explosion that ripped through an Italian eatery in the West Beverly neighborhood on the city’s South Side, officials said this morning.
No injuries were reported in the blaze at Franconello Italian Restaurant, 10220 S. Western Ave. The blaze was called in about 11:57 p.m. Sunday and was struck out by fire crews within 20 minutes authorities said.
Truck 24 works at the Still & Box Alarm at 10220 S. Western Avenue. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Engine 120, running with their new rig (D-655) had a hydrant across the street. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Engine 121, working with a spare piece, also had a hydrant at the fire. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Tower Ladder 39 was also at the Still and Box. Engine 120 had two lines off. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
As firefighters work on the roof of the building, a section of wall that was blown out by the explosion can be seen to the right of the frame. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Chicago Truck 40, an E-ONE like Truck24 was also at the Still & Box Alarm. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
The full Tribune article can be found HERE.
The Joliet Fire Department is in the construction phase of a new station for Station 3.
Joliet Fire Station 3 at 319 Grove Road will be replaced when the new building is completed. Karl Klotz photo
The $1.6 million station — $1.1 million of which is from a federal grant – broke ground this winter on Laraway Road. When completed, it will replace the station at 319 Grove St.
The article is written around the fact that there are no women currently on the job in Joliet and that the new station will be one of three in the city with separate facilities to accommodate women on the job,
Rendering of the new station being built in Joliet for Station 3.
Joliet’s new Fire Station No. 3 will have something that the current station does not – separate locker room and bathrooms for women.
Joliet has never had any female firefighters, but Fire Chief Joe Formhals said that streak is not likely to last long.
“We’re going to get a woman on, it’s just a matter of when,” Formhals said. “You have to anticipate that. I don’t think we’re going to get 50 women all at once, but it will add a new dimension.”
Currently, about 200 people are on Joliet’s eligibility list and only four or five are women, Formhals said. When there is an opening, the department starts with candidates at the top of the list.
Formhals said the city hasn’t updated its eligibility list in years due to a virtual hiring freeze, but he hopes to create a new eligibility list and budget for new hires in 2012. More woman firefighter candidates could be picked up by requiring a paramedic certificate, Formhals said, adding the number of women in paramedic training programs are steadily increasing.
The complete article can be found HERE.
Thanks to Dennis McGuire, Jr. for spotting the article.
The Stone Park Fire Department in MABAS Division 20 has been added to the site. Stone Park is a small town surrounded by Melrose Park and Northlake along North Avenue at Mannheim Road with a population just over 5,100 and an area of .3 square miles. They have three pieces of apparatus including an Osage Type III ambulance, one of the few Seagrave Flame engines, and an E-ONE Quest.
The Sauk Village Fire Station. Karl Klotz photo
The Sauk Village Fire Department in MABAS Division 27 has been added to the site. Sauk Village has a relatively new fleet of Crimson apparatus on Spartan chassis with Gladiator cabs featuring the Evolution trim package. The rigs are black over red with a gold stripe. This scheme replaces white apparatus with a blue strip that the department has been running for quite some time. There is still one white engine left in the fleet, a 1995 Spartan Gladiator/S&S TM engine.
Among the units from Crimson are an engine, a pumper/squad, and one of the area’s few mid-mount tower ladders. Previously, Sauk Village ran with a Hendrickson/3D/Darley/65′ Snorkel and another engine from S&S on a Spartan chassis.
Sauk Village recently retired this 1980 Hendrickson 1871L/3D/Darley 65' Snorkel and replaced it with a 2008 Spartan Gladiator Crimson mid-mount tower ladder. Larry Shapiro photo
The Alsip Fire Department requested a Full Still Alarm for a fire Tuesday night in the middle of the blizzard at 11902 S. Cicero Avenue. Due to the blizzard conditions, companies coming from the north could not make it over the big bridge which spans a few railroad tracks. The bridge runs from 115th St. to 119th St. on Cicero Ave.
The building measured 50×75, housed a carwash, and was the scene of a Box Alarm fire last year. Companies did not have problems getting water but did have problems with the wind and snow, making Cicero Avenue almost impassable. Mutual aid was from the Garden Homes Fire Protection District with a engine, the Palos Fire Protection District with a truck, and the Crestwood Fire Department with a truck. No one was inside when the fire happened.
Dennis McGuire, Jr. braved the elements and took in the fire. He submitted several images.
Alsip Engine 2033, a 2007 Seagrave TB50DA is on a hydrant on Cicero Avenue in front of the fire building during the storm Tuesday night. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Alsip companies hit the remaining hot spots after extinguishing the fire at this commercial building Tuesday night. In addition to fighting the fire, they had to contend with 60mph wind gusts and blowing snow. Dennis McGuire, Jr.
Alsip Truck 2014, a 2003 Seagrave TP55DA with a 100' RM ladder and a 1,500-GPM pump had a 2 1/2" pre-connect off at this fire. A still photo can not convey the magnitude of the wind that was blowing at the time of the fire. Dennis McGire, Jr.
Firefighters pulled a pre-connect off of Engine 2033 that was on a hydrant right in front of the fire building Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Ice progressively builds up on the hydrant hookup for Engine 2033. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
The Robbins Fire Department in MABAS Division 22 has now been added to the site. Robbins has one station with four engines, a tower ladder, and a mini-pumper. The engines are from Darley, E-ONE, Fire-Max, and HME. The Darley is a former Orland engine and the E-ONE came from Riverside. They provide EMS first responders to assist Bud’s Ambulance Service who is contracted for ALS service to the community. The mini-pumper was built by Hammerly on a Dodge chassis (correction … a Ford chassis). This was formerly owned by a department somewhere on the East Coast (correction … by Libertyville, IL).
The Robbins Fire Department station at 3327 W. 137th Street with Chicago style red doors, each featuring the company labels. Karl Klotz photo
Engine 2923 formerly saw service in Riverside, IL. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
This engine was originally built for the Orland Fire Protection District. It was part of an order of five units from Darley on Spartan Gladiator chassis. There were three engines, a 55-foot Snorkel, and a 100-foot LTI rear-mount tower ladder.Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Chicago companies responded to a fire at 1896 N. Milwaukee Avenue last night around 9PM and encountered heavy smoke pushing out of a one-story brick commercial structure. Exposures on either side of the building were three-story brick buildings. The fire was elevated to a 2-11 alarm as companies went defensive pulling all personnel out of the building that was determined to have a light-weight truss roof. There were few means of reaching the deep-seated fire from the front and rear as windows were minimal. Engine 35 was lead out in Sector 1 with Truck 28, Tower 10, and Squad 2A. Engine 57 was in the alley and Engines 30 and 43 had hydrants at the south end of the block. Dennis McGuire, Jr., Tim Olk, Steve Redick, and Larry Shapiro all took in the fire. Images will be posted later today.
A brief article can be found HERE.
A shot in Sector 1 showing Engine 35 supplying water to Squad 2's Snorkel. In the background is Truck 28 and Tower Ladder 10. Larry Shapiro photo
A gallery of Larry Shapiro’s images can be seen HERE. Steve Redick’s photos are HERE.
The Country Club Hills Fire Department responded to a fire todat at 4440 W. 183rd Street, just two buildings west of their Station #1. Fire broke through on the west side of a single-family residence. No one was home at the time of the fire. Country Club Hills received mutual aid from Homewood, Oak Forest, Midlothian, Markham, and Hazel Crest.
Country Club Hills Engine 1120, a Spartan Crimson, in front of the house. Dennis McGuire, Jr photo
Country Club Hills Truck 1145 was staged across the street but not put to use. Denis McGuire, Jr photo
Oak Forest Engine 963 was due mutual aid to Country Club Hills this morning to assist with a house fire. Dennis McGuire, Jr photo
Firefighters repack the pre-connects onto Engine 1120 after extinguishing a fire this morning in Counrty Club Hills, Dennis McGuire, Jr photo
The Kane County Chronicle has an article which outlines a new deadline for the Fox River and Countryside Fire/Rescue District board to choose a service provider for the new fire department.
Some excerpts from the article:
The Fox River and Countryside Fire/Rescue District board did not choose an emergency service provider as expected on Thursday but said they would negotiate a contract with two potential providers and choose one by Feb. 1.
The two are the City of St. Charles Fire Department and AES, American Emergency Services. The board met at a special meeting in a basement training room at St. Charles Fire Station 1.
“We brought them in, gave each one three minutes to answer questions and the citizens advisory wrote down their comments,” Baldwin said of the potential service providers. “AES met pretty much down the line in regards to the [request for proposal] we had and St. Charles suggested pretty much staying status quo.”
A third potential service provider, Metro Paramedic Services, was dropped from consideration because its proposal response was not complete.
The entire article can be found HERE.
The Daily Herald had an article last week (January 10) which stated that American Emergency Services (AES) will almost certainly get the contract. That article can be found HERE.
American Emergency Services will almost certainly be the new 911 service provider for the former St. Charles Countryside Fire Protection District.
On January 14th, The Daily Herald had a followup article.
Residents grill Fox River Countryside fire district over dumping St. Charles firefighters
Feedback during Thursday’s meeting at the St. Charles downtown fire station made it clear that some residents remain wary of what it will all mean to the emergency services in the St. Charles, Campton and Wayne township areas served by the district.
“Perhaps some of us missed some of the details in the past as to what was going on, but we are confident in the St. Charles Fire Department, and your plan slipped by us,” (resident Dennis) Marquis told fire district trustees. “There is no excuse for not watching more closely in the past, but we will be watching more closely now. We wish you success with your plan and hope you come through on your goals of better response time and cost controls.”
“We have a centrally located fire station in St. Charles, so why would we build and staff two separate offices, supposedly for better protection? It seems very unusual to me,” (resident Becky) Lenard said.
The complete article can be found HERE.
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
