Apr 22
Scott Peterson submitted several images of apparatus from the Huntley Fire Protection District. Huntley is not yet on the site.
Unique item on the new Ferrera engine (Engine 944), the Huntley name lights up on the front grill. The other Ferrera units in the area say the brand name. Also, check out the roll-up door for the rear hose bed to provide the now required NFPA containment system for hose. Most manufacturers have been using the cargo style netting.
Dec 5
Bill Friedrich reports that:
The Mayfield Graves County Fire & Rescue in Kentucky has purchased the 1990 Pierce Lance engine that was formerly part of the Glenview Fire Department from B&P Fire Apparatus
This 1990 Pierce Lance 1250/500, formerly Glenview Engine 13 was sold to the Mayfield Graves County Fire/Rescue Department in Kentucky. Bill Friedrich photo
Niles Fire Department Truck 2 is now running with the 1997 Pierce 105′ Quint that was purchased by the department last year. After a series of repairs and upgrades, the X-Trotwood, OH truck which was mentioned HERE is replacing the 75′ Quint 2 (X-North Maine FPD) which returns to reserve status.
Niles Truck 2 is running with this 1997 Pierce Lance 105' rear mount quint. It has a 1,500-GPM pump with a 300-gallon water tank and carries Pierce job #EB201. Larry Shapiro photo
Oct 18
The LaGrange Fire Department had an open house recently and Drew Gresik submitted images of several Lagrange rigs.
LaGrange Engine 1111 is a 1991 Pierce with a first generation Lance cab. It has a 1,500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Drew Gresik photo
The reserve ambulance 1115 is on a Freightliner FL60 chassis. Drew Gresik photo
Ambulance 1114 is a 2009 Frontline on a Ford F-50 chassis. Drew Gresik photo
Aug 10
The Glenside Fire Protection District in Glendale Heights has been added to the site. Glenside is in MABAS Division 12 and runs out of a single station at the corner of Fullerton Avenue and Bloomingdale Road. The station was originally built in 1970 and underwent an extensive renovation which ended in 2004. They have two Medtec ambulances, a new 2010 Ferrara Inferno engine, two E-ONE HP75 quints, and a Pierce engine. Glenside also houses one of three MABAS Division 12 Haz Mat trailers.
The Glenside Fire Protection District station at 1608 Bloomingdale Road. Larry Shapiro photo
The majority of Glenside apparatus is presently painted black over red. Prior to adding the black roofs, apparatus was white over red beginning in 1996. During the early years of the department, the apparatus was a bright yellow that was also reflected in their patch.
Glenside Engine 711 was formerly Engine 701 as delivered in 1989 by Pierce in what was the department's yellow. Larry Shapiro collection
In 1996, Glenside switched from yellow apparatus to red with a white roof as seen in this delivery photo of Quint 705. Larry Shapiro photo
Prior to purchasing the first E-ONE quint in 1986, Glenside ran this 1972 Ford C/Pierce 55' Snorkel as Engine 5 with a 1,000-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection
Bloomingdale Fire Station 1 on Bloomingdale Road houses the fire department headquarters and the emergency dispatch center. Larry Shapiro photo
The Bloomingdale Fire Protection District No 1 in MABAS Division 12 has been added to the site. Bloomingdale has three stations though one is strictly used for storage. Station 2 at 6N480 Keeney Road (which has a Roselle address) was originally part of the Keeneyville Fire District. This station has two spare engines and an out-of-service ambulance which may be converted to a dive unit.
This out-of-service ambulance might be converted into a newer dive unit to replace Dive 9 which is assigned a 1997 Freightliner FL50/Medtec. Larry Shapiro photo
Bloomingdale has their own dispatch center in the basement of Station 1 which serves Bloomingdale in addition to the Elk Grove Township Fire Protection District and theItasca Fire Protection District.
Bloomingdale runs a fleet of Pierce apparatus which includes a tower ladder and three engines on a Lance chassis, one engine on an Enforcer chassis, and an engine on a Quantum chassis. They have on order a 2,000-gallon pumper/tanker on a Velocity chassis which is due this year. The two in-service ambulances as well as the Dive Squad all feature boxes built by Horton.
The newest engine in Bloomingdale is this 2005 Pierce Quantum assigned to Engine 1. John Tulipano photo
Prior to becoming a Pierce customer, Bloomingdale was exclusively a Pirsch customer for many years. In 1981, they received the last engine on a custom Pirsch chassis that matched two engines and a 1972 85′ mid-ship quint.
In 1981, Bloomingdale Engine 2 featured the last custom cab built by hand at the Pirsch factory in Kenosha. From this point forward, Pirsch purchased stock cabs from Truck Cab Manufacturers (TCM) and applied a trim package to make their appearance unique to Pirsch products. Larry Shapiro collection
Bloomingdale Truck 4 was built in 1972 to match one Pirsch engine already in the Bloomingdale fleet complete with the edge warning lights. They would later have a total of four matching custom Pirsch units. Larry Shapiro collection
North Aurora Station 1 houses both medic units, two engines, a tower ladder and the chief officers. Bill Friedrich photo
The North Aurora Fire Protection District in MABAS Division 13 (Kane County) has two stations. One station (#2) has only two engines; a front line and a reserve. The main station has both of the department’s ambulances, the battalion chief, two engines, and a tower ladder. In addition, they have a second building on the grounds which houses the special teams including several TRT units and a boat. The fire suppression apparatus was mostly purchased from Pierce with a 1986 Arrow engine, a 1996 Lance, a 2006 Dash, and a 2001 Dash tower ladder. The frontline engine out of Station 2 is an E-ONE.
Images were supplied by Bill Friedich and Larry Shapiro.
The Homewood Fire Department in MABAS Division 24 is about to take delivery of a 2011 Pierce Arrow XT HD 105′ rear mount quint. The truck was spotted this week at Pierce by Ryan Wyckoff. Matching the rest of the Homewood units it is painted black over red, but instead of a white ladder as they had previously, the new ladder is painted black and the breakaway fly-section is bright green. According to Ryan …
… I found out that this is the last one to have a black ladder since NFPA no longer allows ladders to be painted black.
Homewood is taking delivery of this 2011 Pierce HD 105' rear mount quint on an Arrow XT chassis. Ryan Wyckoff photo
Ladder 550 is replacing a 1987 Pierce 105′ rear mount quint on a Lance chassis with an extra long cab.
The Evanston Fire Department recently took delivery of a 2011 Pierce Arrow XT 100′ TDA for Truck 22. Several readers pointed us to a Pierce delivery photo that was posted this week to the Pierce Flickr site.
Evanston's new tillered aerial. Pierce photo
Larry Shapiro visited Evanston firefighters as they trained with the new unit this week. The new Truck 22 (312) is not yet in service.
Evanston Truck 22 at the city yards prior to being put into service. It is a 2011 Pierce Arrow XT 100' TDA. Larry Shapiro photo
Evanston firefighters take turns operating the aerial as part of their training on the new piece. Larry Shapiro photo
The design and layout of this unit is very different from the 1990 TDA that it is replacing. Larry Shapiro photo
The new TDA has H-Style jacks which extend out perpendicular from the body, where the older unit had swing-out jacks that nested under the turntable. Larry Shapiro photo
The new unit has high-side compartments with slide-out trays. The older truck had more compartment space though since it carried fewer ground ladders. Larry Shapiro photo
Truck 22 has the same configuration as Evanston Engine 23 with a raised-roof Arrow XT cab. Larry Shapiro photo
The new truck has job #24044 and work order #12603375. Larry Shapiro photo
The current Truck 22 is this 1990 Pierce Lance 105' TDA with a ladder made for Pierce by Smeal. Larry Shapiro photo
The outgoing truck carried Pierce #E-5511. Larry Shapiro photo
The old and new trucks siting side-by-side show some of the differences in the two units, and how fire apparatus has changed over the last 20+ years. Larry Shapiro photo
A group shot with firefighters from Truck 22, Engine 22, and Engine 21. Larry Shapiro photo
Tim Olk visited the Evanston fire scene on Oak Street the following morning and submitted several images depicting the scene in the daylight hours.
The aftermath of the devastating fire on Oak Street in Evanston as seen from the street. The upper floor and peaked roof areas combined with the setback from the street proved challenging for the elevated master stream deployed in the 'A Sector.' Tim Olk photo
The fire on Oak Street was in Evanston Truck 22's still district. They returned in the morning to assist with a rekindle inside the building. This truck is slated for replacement in the coming months by a new Pierce TDA. Tim Olk photo
Evanston Engine 24 was back at the scene in the morning. Tim Olk photo
This shot looking down at the fire building from the building next door shows the complexity of the architecture that firefighters had to overcome. Tim Olk photo
The fire building was extremely close to the exposure building located to the south which reduced the fire department's access to the fire scene by 25%. This also illustrates the avenue for smoke which infiltrated the building next door. To the rear of the fire building was scaffolding, which also hampered access for firefighters. Tim Olk photo
One more elevated view of the fire building shows the aftermath. Tim Olk photo
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
