Nov 14
Bill Friedrich informs us of the following units that are currently on order from Pierce for area departments.
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
The Bloomingdale Fire Protection District in MABAS Division 12 (Dupage County) will be added to the site soon. Their entire fleet of suppression apparatus including a tower ladder and five engines were all built by Pierce.
Barrington Engine 3612 was running frontline and backed into the driveway. Three lines were taken off this engine. Larry Shapiro photo
The Barrington engine was fed by Lake Zurich Engine 2. A portable tank was dropped at the end of the block which was kept supplied by a tanker shuttle. Larry Shapiro photo
The Barrington Fire Department received calls for a structure fire before 9PM last night at #7 Crestview Lane in Lake Barrington. First arriving units found heavy fire in what would be determined later as a vacant house undergoing renovation. Lake Zurich Engine 2 (3214), located roughly two miles from the fire scene arrived right behind companies from Barrington Station 3 and setup a relay pumping operation which would later be supplied by a tanker shuttle from the end of Crestview Lane at Old Barrington Road.
Tankers from Palatine Rural and Long Grove wait to dump their tank water into the portable tank ahead after the Barrington tanker finishes. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters stand by Barrington Engine 361 drafting water from the portable tank which is sent down the block to Lake Zurich Engine 2. Larry Shapiro photo
Looking down Crestview Lane from Lake Zurich Engine 2, Barrington Engine 361 can be seen at the end of the block. Larry Shapiro photo
Seven tankers responded to the scene and the fire was struck out in less than an hour. Temperatures at the time of the fire were in the low 80s with high humidity. Mutual aid companies came from Hoffman Estates, Carpentersville, Mundelein, Cary, Palatine, Palatine Rural, Long Grove, Bartlett, Wauconda, Algonquin-Lake In The Hills, and Deerfield.
Mundelein Engine 431 is parked on Old Barrington Road as the crew works inside the house. Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro arrived after the fire was out and submitted some images from the scene and the staging area.
Firefighters from Hoffman Estates Engine 23 were also put to work leaving the rig in staging. Larry Shapiro photo
Carpentersville Engine 942, a 2007 Pierce Dash also sits in staging several blocks from the fire. Larry Shapiro photo
Cary firefighters responded with Squad 255. Larry Shapiro photo
West Dundee firefighters also responded on the 2nd Alarm with this Pierce Saber. Larry Shapiro photo
The Daily Herald has a brief article HERE.
Jul 2
The Addison Fire Department elevated a fire in a commercial building at 2150 Executive Drive to a Second Alarm on Saturday afternoon. John Tulipano went to the scene and reported that the fire was in a lazar cutting machine inside a large commercial building. Temperatures were 95+ degrees.
John submitted a few images from the scene.
Lombard Truck 52 is positioned on the side of the building with the aerial to the roof. John Tulipano photo
Elnhurst Squad 1 was staged while company members worked at the scene. John Tulipano photo
Firefighters gear up after receiving an assignment to go inside the building. John Tulipano photo
Bloomingdale Engine 1 was also in staging. John Tulipano photo
Lombard's Battalion Chief was assigned as a sector officer at the fire. John Tulipano photo
John has a few more images which can be found HERE.
Firefighters complete roof ventilation as others inspect the living room after the fire was declared under control. Larry Shapiro photo
In a neighborhood that sustained heavy storm damage and was still without power two nights after a huge storm system brought a tornado through Mt. Prospect, a house fire was reported around 9PM. Neighbors reported smoke coming from the ranch house at 601 N. Elmhurst Avenue, (which is four streets west of Elmhurst Road/Route 83) at the corner of west Highland Street.
Mt Prospect Tower 13, a Pierce Velocity, was setup in front of the house on Highland and provided lighting for the firefighters that were working on the roof. Larry Shapiro photo
Mt Prospect Engine 13 was around the corner on Elmhurst with two lengths of LDH to the hydrant on the opposite corner. Larry Shapiro photo
Companies could have had difficulty getting a secure water supply if they had encountered a hydrant like this one on the next block. Larry Shapiro photo
Initial reports were that a dog was in the house and that the residents were not at home. Engine 14 arrived moments before Tower 13 and found fire venting through windows on the east side of the house. The Code 3 was upgraded to a Code 4 bringing mutual aid companies from Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights, and Des Plaines to the scene in addition to change companies covering the Mt Prospect stations.
Off-duty personnel brought the Mt Prospect Squad to the scene to fill air bottles. Larry Shapiro photo
Fire was blowing out the east side of the house when companies arrived. Larry Shapiro photo
The fire was knocked down in under 15 minutes and the out of town units were released shortly thereafter. Both sides of each street throughout the neighborhood were lined with tree limbs and other storm related debris.
Throughout the entire neighborhood, storm damage was apparent overhead. Larry Shapiro photo
Debris from the storm two nights earlier lined both sides of each street in this neighborhood. Larry Shapiro photo
A large tree lays across a hydrant around the corner from the house fire. The first engine had to keep an eye out for a hydrant that was not obstructed. Larry Shapiro photo
Jeff Rudolph again traveled across the border on Thursday to a fire in Wisconsin and had the following description:
Pleasant Prairie, WI pulled box 56-01 to the Box Alarm level for a fire at Dejno’s Inc @ 7533 75th St. Fire was showing on arrival from a roof top hopper unit that is used to load saw dust. Winthrop Harbor, IL went change of quarters to Pleasant Prairie Sta.1 and Newport 1415 went to the scene. Mutual aid companies also came from Bristol, Somers, Kensoha, and Salem. One FF was slightly injured and was treated and released at the scene. Extensive overhaul had to be done to make sure all of the smoldering dust was extinguished.
Firefighters from Newport Township went to work on the roof. Jeff Rudolph photo
Pleasant Prairie Truck 5631 setup to the roof of the industrial building. Jeff Rudolph photo
Pleasant Prairie Tanker 5615 supplies water to companies at the scene. Newport Engine 1415 is seen alongside. Both are Pierce units. Jeff Rudolph photo
Pleasant Prairie Engine 5612 was also pumping at the scene. It is a 2010 Pierce Quantum pumper/tanker. Jeff Rudolph photo
Additional images from the scene can be seen on Jeff’s Flickr site HERE.
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
