Posts Tagged firefighters use multi-versals at fire scene

Chicago 5-11 Alarm + 2 specials 1-22-13 (pt 5)

Tim Olk submitted several images from the fire on Tuesday. Tim’s images show the earliest on-scene images as compared to the other contributors.

 

Chicago fire engine with ice

Chicago Engine 8 from Chinatown covered with ice. Tim Olk photo

firefighter with ice covered helmet

A firefighter coated with ice from the spray of the master streams. Tim Olk photo

Chicago fire engine at massive fire

Chicago Engine 47 pumping at the scene of the 5-11 Alarm warehouse fire. Tim Olk photo

fire chief at massive fire

A battalion chief surveys the fire from the turntable of Truck 18. Tim Olk photo

silhouette of firefighter

Silhouette of a firefighter on Truck 18’s ladder. Tim Olk photo

firefighter on ladder with fire

A line is taken to the roof of an adjacent building. Tim Olk photo

Pierce ladder truck at fire scene

Truck 18 on the Ashland Avenue overpass is setup to an exposure building. Tim Olk photo

fire department tower ladder at fire sene

Tower Ladder 39 surrounded by flying embers hits the fire with a master stream. Tim Olk photo

massive fire in warehouse at night

Phenomenal fire fully involving the entire structure. TIm Olk photo

Tim has a gallery with substantially more images.

Additionally, there are several images taken today (Wednesday) as companies remain on the scene.

Chicago Fire Department Snorkel

Chicago reserve Snorkel on Ashland Avenue in front of the ice covered ruins of the 5-11 Alarm fire. Tim Olk photo

ruins of massive warehouse fire in Chicago

A tower ladder works at the ruins of the 5-11 alarm fire. Tim Olk photo

ruins of massive warehouse fire in Chicago

Another tower ladder working the day after the fire was detected. Tim Olk photo

There is a separate gallery with follow-up images.

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Chicago 5-11 Alarm + 2 specials 1-22-13 (pt 4)

Media articles covering the 5-11 Alarm fire on 1-22-13:

From the Chicago Tribune:

Firefighters were still on the scene of a smoldering warehouse in Bridgeport this morning, pouring water on hot spots after a 5-11 alarm fire raced through the five-story building as a third of the department’s on-duty personnel fought it.

The blaze was spotted by a fire chief passing by the former Harris Marcus Group building at 3757 S. Ashland Ave. shortly after 9 p.m. Extra alarms were quickly called as the fire spread throughout the warehouse and the roof collapsed and the more than 200 firefighters contended with frozen hydrants and icy ladders. The fire was finally brought under control around 12:30 a.m.

Chicago Fire Cmsr. Jose Santiago said the fire was Chicago’s largest in seven years. “This was a very large fire, unbelievable fire load, a lot of wood, timber, old stuff, varnish,” Santiago said on the scene. “Once it caught, it caught and ran.

“Everything is wood inside these buildings, beautiful façades on the outside. They’ve been up for a long time. When they start burning like this, they start coming down,” Santiago said.

The commissioner said the freezing cold made the firefighters’ job tougher. “We run into a lot of problems, like the ice weight on the building and ladders,” Santiago said. “We had the Water Department to come out and steam off our ladders.”

The commander at the scene called for a 5-11 with two “special alarms” to bring in special equipment and more manpower as the massive five started spreading to other buildings.

Special alarms are rare. A 5-11 with two special alarms was called in 2006 when a fire gutted the historic Wirt Dexter Building in the South Loop. That fire broke out before 3 p.m. on a weekday, snarled downtown traffic and forced the CTA to stop service on Loop L tracks.

There was a 5-11 alarm fire in the Avondale neighborhood on the Northwest Side last year. That fire burned for hours and required about 200 firefighters, but no special alarms were called.

Alarms normally escalate one at a time beyond a normal fire response up to a fifth alarm, though the scene commander skipped a fourth alarm Tuesday night once the fire jumped to another building.

Press interview with Commissioner Santiago (obnoxious commercial precedes the footage)

Radioman911.com radio traffic:

1/22/13 Chicago 5-11 Alarm + 2 Specials
Warehouse Fire 3757 S. Ashland Ave.
with extension to 3737 and 3711 S. Ashland Ave.5-11 Order http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359905432
Fireground Radio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi5Bdd5sE_w
Photos/Video http://www.facebook.com/Radioman911

Real Time Recording
Part 1 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359874615
Part 2 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359872478
Part 3 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359871889
Part 4 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359870848
Part 5 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359870273
Part 6 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359869430
Part 7 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359868058
Part 8 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359867255

Tower 5’s Basket Frozen In Place
Part 9 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359865499

5-11 + 2 Specials Struck Out By Orders of 2-1-4
Part 10 http://www.justin.tv/radioman911/b/359864414

 

thanks Chris and Dave

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Chicago 5-11 Alarm + 2 specials 1-22-13 (pt 3)

Larry Shapiro has posted a video from the 5-11 +2 specials

Tim Olk visite the ruins today and submitted these images showing some of the ice sculpture at the scene.

truck covered with ice

Frozen box truck at the scene of the 5-11. Tim Olk photo

ice covered truck

Another truck cab that was covered with ice and is located behind the fire building. Tim Olk photo

 

 

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Chicago 5-11 Alarm + 2 specials 1-22-13 (pt 2)

From Josh Boyajian:

Here are my pictures from last night!
large nighttime fire in CHicago

Tower Ladder 5 was in a spare apparatus last night. They were at the corner of Sectors 1 and 4. Josh Boyajian photo

big fire at night in Chicago

Sector 1 fully involved. Josh Boyajian photo

firefighter putting water onto huge fire

A deck gun in use from Engine 49. Josh Boyajian photo

firefighters work at nighttime fire

A view looking at Sector 1 from the Ashland Avenue Frontage Road. Josh Boyajian photo

master streams at fire

A multi-versal works by Engines 49 and 8, both of which are operating deck guns. Josh Boyajian photo

Chicago fire engine at large fire

Engine 29 from deploys a deck gun at 36th Street and the west frontage road of Avenue. Josh Boyajian photo

huge building on fire in Chicago

A view from underneath the Ashland Avenue bridge looking down 38th Street after a portion of the fire building collapsed. Josh Boyajian photo

From Jeff Rudolph:

Some pics from last night, Jeff R
large warehouse fire in Chicago

Huge fire seen in Sector 3 well after the interior collapsed. Jeff Rudolph photo

firefighter covered with ice

A firefighter from Engine 8 coated with ice. Jeff Rudolph photo

firefighting Snorkel silhouette

Squad 1A with a master stream in Sector 3. Jeff Rudolph photo

large warehouse fire in Chicago

Truck 33 with an elevated master stream in Sector 3. Jeff Rudolph photo

black and white photo of fire engine covered with ice

Engine 8 icing up in Sector 1. Jeff Rudolph photo

large fire scene silhouetted firefighters

Firefighters on Truck 33 in the rear. Jeff Rudolph photo

 

ABC Chicago has an article HERE.

A Chicago Fire Department spokesman said a southside warehouse that caught fire Tuesday night will be a total loss.

“Totally involved. … This is a major fire,” read a message posted to Twitter at about 9:50 p.m. Moments later there was a message that a portion of the structure had collapsed.

Firefighters were in “defensive mode” in attacking the fire in a building on the 3700 block of South Ashland Avenue, spokesman Larry Langford said.

But despite his initial, confident remark that the fire would be isolated, flames spread to at least one nearby building. The owner of a printing company, at 3801 S. Ashland Ave., was on the scene and expressed concerns about chemicals inside that could explode.

 

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Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12

The Chicago Tribune has an article about Tuesday’s 3-11 Alarm commercial fire on the city’s North Side.

Fire crews were called to the furniture store about 3:20 p.m. A 3-11 alarm, bringing more than 110 firefighters to the scene, was called by about 3:45 p.m., sending extra equipment as the fire got close to the tracks. The fire was under control about 6:30 p.m., but firefighters still were pouring water on the north side of the building about 6:45 p.m., according to Deputy Fire Cmsr. Michael Callahan.

The fire was finally out by about 9:45 p.m., but the building was considered unstable and fire officials were awaiting an expert opinion on whether the building would have to be demolished, accordign to Fire Media Affairs.

The complete article is HERE.

Steve Redick was at the scene and submitted several images.

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Firefighters in Tower Ladder 21's bucket direct a master stream into a second floor window. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue Chicago Engine 22

Engine 22 was on the initial alarm and had a hydrant on Sheffield at Fullerton. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue Chicago Engine 55

Chicago Engine 55 was the first engine on the scene and took a hydrant across from the fire building. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

The fire building was at the corner of Sheffield and Montana. This shot shows two multi-versals working as smoke pushes out of the first floor windows along Montana. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Tower Ladder 21 works the front of the building on Sheffield. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Overhead power lines and large trees forced Tower Ladder 21 to take a position that would allow them to get under the wires to hit the windows. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Squad 1, working from a spare apparatus, setup in the parking lot to deploy their Snorkel. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Engine 35 was on a hydrant around the corner. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Smoke pushes out of all windows on the first floor and the street is full of water as debris clogs the sewers. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Noxious brown smoke fills the streets around the fire building. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Against a dramatic backdrop of heavy smoke, Squad 1 uses a master stream from the Snorkel. Steve Redick photo

Chicago 3-11 Alarm fire 5-29-12 on Sheffield Avenue

Except for the cab, the majority of Tower Ladder 10, also working with a spare, is concealed by heavy smoke and trees on this residential street. Steve Redick photo

More images can be viewed HERE.

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