Jul 23
Matt Schumann submitted several images of apparatus from Bedford Park Fire Station 3.
Bedford Park Ambulance 701 is a 2010 Type III Horton on a Ford E-450 chassis. Matt Schumann photo
Bedford Park Battalion 706 drives this 2005 Ford Expedition. Matt Schumann photo
Bedford Park Truck 709 is a 2001 Pierce Dash 100′ tower ladder with a 2,000-GPM pump and 300 gallons of water. Matt Schumann photo
Jun 7
Drew Gresik submitted several apparatus photos of units that are not yet on the website.
Brookfield Ambulance 414 is a 2006 Ford E-450 Type III from LifeLine. Drew Gresik photo
Riverside Ambulance 1614 is a 2010 Ford E-350 Type III by Medtec. Drew Gresik photo
Riverside Engine 1621 is a 2003 E-ONE Typhoon with a 1,250-GPM pump, 1,000 gallons of water and 40 gallons of foam. Drew Gresik photo
Riverside Truck 1629 is a low profile, 2000 Seagrave (LP55DA) with a 2,000-GPM pump, 500 gallons of water, and a 100-foot rear-mounted ladder. Drew Gresik photo
North Riverside Tower 806 is a 1997 Pierce Dash with a 2,000-GPM pump, 200 gallons of water, and a 100-foot tower ladder. Drew Gresik photo
River Forest Engine 222 is a 2002 Spartan Gladiator/Darley with a 1,500-GPM pump, 800 gallons of water, and 30 gallons of foam. Drew Gresik photo
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.
Tim Olk took a drive on Monday to visit the fire scene in Peru, IL. When he went down there, they were over 30 hours into the fire and had requested a 4th Alarm for tankers to the scene. Tim found fires still burning and producing large amounts of smoke throughout many areas of the complex. He took a large amount of photos during the time he was on-scene which will be online in the coming hours. Here are a few samples of what he found in Peru. Earlier coverage of the fire can be found HERE.
A Pierce tower ladder from the Mendota Fire Department works an elevated master stream into one building in the Westclox complex in Peru, IL. Tim Olk photo
Another Pierce tower ladder, this one belonging to the Peru Fire Department, works at an adjacent building. Tim Olk photo
Firefighters direct a hand line into one of the buildings in an effort to extinguish some of the fire that still burns more than day after the fire broke out. Tim Olk photo
A section of the former clock company that has been totally destroyed. Tim Olk photo
An engine from LaSalle pumps water from the porta-tanks that are constantly refilled by one of the many tankers on the scene. Tim Olk photo
A tanker from the Oglesby Fire District takes a turn at the porta-tanks. Tim Olk photo
The water supply officer prepares to send this tanker from the Standard Fire Protection District to dump it's water. Tim Olk photo
A Darley engine from the Dixon Rural Fire District pumps at the fire scene. Tim Olk photo
Firefighters were kept at a distance during the height of the fire due to the intense heat and are just now able to move in and hit all of the remaining fires. Here they douse a dumpster in a loading dock area near several burned trailers. Tim Olk photo
Well over a day after the initial fire was intentionally set, parts of the scene are still shrouded in thick smoke. Tim Olk photo
A Pierce Arrow engine from Peru pumps from another porta-tank set up in a different section of the complex. Tim Olk photo
Tim has a large gallery of images that can be found HERE.
Karl Klotz visited the Lisle Woodridge FPD last week and photographed the new buggy for the battalion and the new tower at Truck 537.
Shortly before 2AM on Thursday a motorist made a cellular 9-1-1 call and reported a fire at 3010 Mannheim Road in Franklin Park. First arriving units were met by heavy fire in the front lobby and on the third floor of a large, three-story, vacant motel property that is setup in the shape of an ‘H’ with a banquet hall in the rear. The building has been vacant for several years, and Franklin Park firefighters knew that the structural integrity of the building was suspect and they preplanned to take a defensive stance upon arrival if the building caught fire.
The banquet hall on the right is surrounded by guest rooms. Heavy fire burns in the back of the main building which faces Mannheim Road and has spread to the adjoining wing on the left. Steve Redick photo
When the first companies found heavy fire, they immediately requested a MABAS Box Alarm from MABAS Division 20. A 2nd alarm was requested roughly 20 minutes later. Six elevated master streams were eventually put to work around the building with the Melrose Park Bronto (working it’s second 3-11 alarm fire in a 12 hour span) setup on the south (‘B’), Leyden Township to the west (‘C’) with an E-ONE HP75, Rosemont to the north (‘D’) with their Pierce tower ladder, and the other three were working on Mannheim Road in front of the building (‘A’). This included another Bronto from Elmwood Park, a Seagrave rear mount from Franklin Park, and another Pierce tower from Schiller Park.
Schiller Park Tower 454 is working in front of the fire building on Mannheim road. Steve Redick photo
Engines that were due up to the 2nd alarm were two from Franklin Park, and one each from Stone Park, Elmhurst, River Grove, Norwood Park, Northlake, and Bensenville. Chicago Squad 7 from O’Hare was also due on the 2nd alarm.
The Melrose Park Bronto Skylift was positioned on the south side of the complex using the master stream to combat the fire. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters from Elmwood Park are above the roof on the southeast corner of the structure on Mannheim Road. Larry Shapiro photo
An EMS Box Alarm was also struck which brought ambulances from Schiller Park, Leyden Township, River Grove, and Bensenville in addition to an ambulance from Northlake. This allowed for multiple ambulances to be on standby for the multiple Rapid Intervention Teams that were part of the preplanning to accommodate the size of the property and the potential for unsafe conditions.
Schiller Park Tower 454 was on Mannheim at Center Avenue, the northeast corner of the building. Franklin Park Truck 2 and the Elmwood Park Bronto are further down the street. Larry Shapiro photo
A 3rd alarm fire box was initiated roughly an hour into the fire to provide relief companies for the crews that were working. This brought Maywood Truck 502 along with engines from River Forest, Berkely, and Hillside.
Franklin Park's engine tagged a hydrant at the corner of Mannheim and Schiller Boulevard to supply water to Truck 2. Larry Shapiro photo
The fire proved to have a hold throughout the main building and required several instances where all lines were shut down to allow the fire to burn through the roof so that firefighters could have access to extinguish the flames. Several hand lines and multi-versals were put to use supplementing the elevated master streams.
Several hours into the fire all of the lines were shut down so the fire could burn freely to allow firefighters better access to it. Larry Shapiro photo
The fire grows in intensity without water being applied. This in turn gave firefighters more access to fight the fire that was burning beneath the intact roof. Larry Shapiro photo
The alarms were finally struck out near 8AM as it appeared that companies finally had gotten the upper hand and were able to reach all of the deep seated fire which proved to be quite stubborn.
Several area photographers, Steve Redick, Tim Olk, Larry Shapiro, and Gordon J. Nord Jr., were at the scene overnight and will have images to post at different times during the day. As the images become available, the posting will be updated. Larry has a gallery HERE, and Steve has a gallery HERE.
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
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.
May 8
In a follow-up to the posting and discussions of Skokie Tower 16, Jeff Rudolph photographed the truck and submitted photos. Jeff reiterates that Tower 16 is not inservice yet.
Skokie Tower 16, 1995/2011 Pierce Lance 1500/250 100' tower ladder. Jeff Rudolph photo
New decal at the pedestal of Tower 16. Jeff Rudolph photo
The Burnham Fire Department received calls yesterday reporting a fire in a 3-story apartment building at 14000 S. Torrence Avenue. First arriving companies found heavy smoke on the first floor and upgraded the alarm to a MABAS Box Alarm. Mutual aid companies from several neighboring departments responded including Calumet City, Dolton, South Holland, and Munster Indiana. The fire was knocked down in fairly short order and no injuries were reported.
Tim Olk took in the fire, and though he arrived after the fire was put out, he submitted several images of the scene and the apparatus that responded.
Firefighters relax after knocking down an apartment fire on Saturday at 14000 S Torrence Avenue. Tim Olk photo
Calumet City Truck 309 was positioned in the 'A' Sector and supported hand lines. Tim Olk photo
Burnham Engine 2014, a 2007 HME Ahrens Fox was the first engine on the scene. Tim Olk photo
South Holland Engine 665, built by Smeal on an HME chassis was due to assist Burnham. Tim Olk photo
Burnham Engine 2016, a 1996 HME SFO Luverne was staged down the street from the fire building. Tim Olk photo
The Munster Indiana Fire Department is a member of MABAS Division 24 and was due on the Box with their Truck 2221, an American LaFrance/LTI tower ladder. Tim Olk photo
The Third District Fire Chief's Association canteen unit was on the scene to assist with rehab. Tim Olk photo
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
