Posts Tagged Lake Forest Fire Department

Chicagoareafire.com website update (more)

The following departments have been added to the new site.

  • Lake Forest
  • Knollwood
  • Lake Bluff
  • Newport Township
  • Long Grove
  • Lincolnshire-Riverwoods
  • Winthrop Harbor

There have been some updates of newer or current apparatus, but most likely they are not completely accurate. Any assistance would be appreciated with regards to missing photos and fact checking department specs etc.

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Box alarm fire in Lake Forest, 2-23-17

Lake Forest firefighters were called to 81 W. North Avenue Thursday morning (2/23/17) for smoke in the basement of an occupied house undergoing some renovation. Black smoke was reported on arrival and the alarm was upgraded to a Code 4 for the working fire.

As conditions deteriorated and sections of the first floor became unstable, the alarm was upgraded to a Box Alarm. The fire was declared under control shortly thereafter and the incident commander began releasing companies.

aftermath of house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

ambulance at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

fire trucks at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

more photos at Shapirophotography.net

This from Steve Redick:

Happened to be in the area, this is a long way from my usual still district. Fire was a done deal but I got to see and shoot a bunch of rigs I never see.

Steve

Lincolnshire-Riverwoods FPD Truck 51

Steve Redick photo

Lake Bluff FD fire engine

Steve Redick photo

Countryside FPD tower ladder

Steve Redick photo

Deerfield-Bannockburn FPD Squad 19

Steve Redick photo

Lake Forest FD fire engine

Steve Redick photo

Bull dog character on fire truck

Steve Redick photo

Lake Forest FD fire engine

Steve Redick photo

Knollwood FD quint

Steve Redick photo

Highland Park FD Squad 33

Steve Redick photo

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Truck fire in Lake Forest, 1-7-17

This from Niko Stefani:

The Lake Forest Fire Department was called to southbound Rt 41 just north of Deerpath Road near the hospital entrance for a semi that was on fire. The driver was able to detach his trailer that was loaded with cheese. Dispatchers advised the en route companies that the rear breaks were on fire. Battalion 42 arrived with a fully involved trailer. Rt. 41 was shut down and traffic was being redirected down Gage Ln. There were issues establishing a water supply, Engine 422 laid a supply from the hospital out to the scene. Ernie’s Wrecker Service responded to retrieve the trailer. IDOT was requested to make a few passes with salt due to the frigid temperatures. Companies on the scene from Lake Forest: Squad Co. 421, Engine Co. 422, Ambulance 421, Utility 421, and Battalion 42. Lake Bluff Engine Co. 4519 and Knollwood Engine Co. 44. Thanks.

 

firefighter opens a hydrant

Niko Stefani photo

truck fire

Niko Stefani photo

truck fire on the highway

Niko Stefani photo

Lake Forest Fire Department apparatus

Niko Stefani photo

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Chimney fire in Lake Forest, 1-4-17

This from Niko Stefani:

Lake Forest Fire Department Code 4 for the chimney fire.

Lake Forest Fire Department received a 911 call from a passerby reporting flames from a chimney at 472 E Illinois Rd. Battalion 42 arrived on the scene and reported flames shooting from the chimney and shortly after upgraded to a Code 4. Code 3 Response: Lake Forest Squad Co. 421 Engine Co. 422 Ambulance 421 and Battalion 42. The Code 4 upgrade brought Lake Forest Chief 4200, 4201, and 4202, Knollwood Ladder Co. 44, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Squad Co. 51, Highland Park Engine Co. 34, Battalion 33, and Chief 3301, Deerfield Chief 2000, and Libertyville Ambulance 463. Change of quarters by Lake Bluff Chief 4503 and Wheeling Ambulance 24.
Knollwood Ladder 44 backed into the driveway and used their truck to gain a better view of the chimney from above. Lake Forest Squad 421 was originally in the driveway with their light tower set up.
Lake Forest Fire Department squad

Niko Stefani photo

aerial ladder raised on fire truck

Niko Stefani photo

Knollwood Fire Department fire truck

Niko Stefani photo

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Lake Forest Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The Lake Forest City Council is looking for ways to handle the increasing costs of running a fire department, particularly pension costs. The fire pension levy in 2005 was $466,229, according to a presentation at the Oct. 3 city council meeting. This year it’s $1.2 million. By 2027, city officials project that it will increase to $2.6 million.

Adding the police pension fund, total public safety costs are projected to hit $6.7 million in 2027.

Firefighters contribute 9.45 percent of their pay to the pension fund while police employees contribute 9.91 percent of their pay. Each entity has a pension fund managed by a five-person pension board and advised by professional investment advisers.

There is about $60 million total in the two pension funds, said Elizabeth Holleb, director of finance for the city.

“Like many of the pension plans, in late 2015 and early 2016, the market was not doing well,” Holleb said. “We closed the books on April 15. We had very low returns. We assume a return of seven percent.”

The actual return on firefighter pension investments was .28 percent while police pension investments lost 1.64 percent, according to city documents. The city of Lake Forest is responsible for making up the difference.

The fiscal 2017 budget for the fire department is $6.25 million with 98 percent of the cost being personnel. The department has 35 full-time employees. The city of Lake Forest has always met or exceeded the state-mandated pension contributions, Holleb said.

In past years, the city has reduced staff by attrition.

“The problem is that we are so lean . . .its difficult to make those sort of reductions,” Holleb said.

“The math doesn’t work long term,” said City Manager Robert Kiely during the Oct. 3 meeting, adding that the cost of fire service is rising faster than the city’s ability to raise revenue.

“Unaltered, the growth of public safety pension obligations alone will require massive tax and fee increases as well as severe cuts in other governmental services in order to merely fund the annual increase,” Ald. Stanford Tack read from a prepared letter. “The committee determined that there were no significant opportunities for revenue enhancement or fiscal efficiencies in the fire department that could clearly contribute the mitigation of these clearly unsustainable financial trends.”

In the short term, the city council instructed city staff to research a fee of $10 per quarter, or $40 per year, on residents. That would offer the city government one to two years in which to research and implement changes.

The city also plans to reach out to neighboring communities to discuss sharing of fire services, although what that could look like has yet to be determined.

“We will not compromise public safety,” Mayor Don Schoenheider said.

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Lake Forest Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Jeffrey Howell retired as chief of the Lake Forest Fire Department on Sept. 2 after 26 years with the department.

He was first hired at the Elk Grove Township Fire Department in 1988, where he worked for two years before moving to the Lake Forest Fire Department in May 1990. He made lieutenant in 2003, captain in 2005, deputy chief in 2006 and chief in 2007.

The biggest challenge of running a fire department, says Howell, has been the tightening of budgets.

Howell is most proud of the Lake Forest Fire Department gaining accreditation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence in both 2010 and again in 2015. The 2010 accreditation was a three-year process where representatives looked at fire department practices, training, call response, equipment, strategic plan, capital equipment replacement plan, city government financing and other aspects of running an effective fire department.

On Sept. 6 the Lake Forest City Council appointed Deputy Chief Pete Siebert as acting fire chief. The city has formed a committee called  to consider the future of the fire department.

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7-Alarm fire in Gurnee, 7-28-16 (more)

Video by Larry Shapiro of the 7-Alarm fire in Gurnee, 7-28-16

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7-Alarm fire in Gurnee, 7-28-16 (more)

More photos from the 7-Alarm fire in Gurnee, 7-28-16

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

A fiveseven-alarm fire at a propane-storage facility in Gurnee Thursday afternoon produced explosions.

The Gurnee Fire Department reportedly received a call just before noon at 3895 Clearview Court, which is listed as the Pinnacle Propane Express.

smoke header visible for miles

Larry Shapiro photo

Pierce fire engine with lots of charged hose at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

elevated master streams at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

elevated master streams at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

deluge gun master stream at fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Great Lakes Naval Training Center Fire Department

Larry Shapiro photo

engine dropping supply line at fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Lake Forest Fire Department fire truck at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

engine dropping supply line at fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Long Grove FPD Ambulance 55

Larry Shapiro photo

fire department monitor deluge gun at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

sprinkler system working during commercial fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Beach Park Fire Department Seagrave  fire engine at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

propane tank storage yard

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of fire at propane tank service company with charred propane tanks

Larry Shapiro photo

Gurnee Fire Department fire engine at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of fire at propane tank service company with charred propane tanks

aftermath of fire at propane tank service company with charred propane tanksLarry Shapiro photo

aftermath of fire at propane tank service company with charred propane tanks

Larry Shapiro photo

firefighters in foam after fire

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of fire at propane tank service company

Larry Shapiro photo

Oshkosh ARFF at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

more photos at shapirophotography.net

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Firefighting family works along the North Shore

Excerpts from the DailyNorthShore.com:

When Jerry Kluchka was honored during a Lake Bluff Village Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 14 for 30 years of service to the Lake Bluff Fire Department, his three firefighter sons were there to share the honor with him.

Tim Kluchka, 30, is a member of the North Chicago Fire Department; Matt Kluchka, 25, works for the Lake Forest Fire Department; and Russell Kluchka, 23, fights fires in Highwood.

Lake Bluff’s department consists entirely of volunteers, and all four Kluchkas serve in their hometown. They said when a call goes out to multiple towns, they head to the blaze but not always from the same place.

“It’s definitely interesting,” Russell Kluchka said. “One time there was a fire in Lake Forest, I got there from Highwood and we all saw each other. People give us a hard time. They say ‘it’s you again.”

Jerry Kluchka, who has lived in Lake Bluff since elementary school, joined the department just before Tim was born.

“I had friends whose fathers were firemen,” Kluchka said. “We got to go inside the fire station when I was a little guy. In Lake Bluff they blew the siren to call the volunteers. We lived nearby and ran down to the station to see the fire trucks leave.”

Using his mechanical skills, Jerry started volunteering. He said he worked on the equipment and it was not long before he was a firefighter. As his family started to grow, the next generation of Kluchka men hung around the firehouse like their father did as a youth.

All four are paramedics. Tim, Matt and Russell said they all took EMT courses while in high school and were volunteering in their teens.

“There were times I ditched school to go on an ambulance call,” Tim Kluchka said. “I’d come in for the last periods (of the day) and got some looks.”

“My wife got some calls about that,” Jerry Kluchka added.

Though the younger generation of Kluchkas are full-time firemen, Jerry Kluchka is a volunteer.

thanks Dan

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House fire in Lake Forest, 11-5-15

The Lake Forest Fire Department responded to a house fire at 792 Greenbriar Lane around noon today (11/5/15) and found heavy fire from the rear of a large, two-story home. The fire was upgraded to a Box Alarm for additional companies and was brought under control in about 40 minutes.

house fire with heavy smoke

Tim Olk photo

house fire with heavy smoke

Tim Olk photo

house fire with heavy smoke

Tim Olk photo

house fire with heavy smoke

Tim Olk photo

house fire with heavy smoke

Tim Olk photo

house fire with heavy smoke

Tim Olk photo

firefighter on ladder with hose at house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

aftermath of house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

fire engine at house fire

Larry Shapiro photo

More photos at shapirophotography.net and Olkee.smugmug.com

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