Posts Tagged Prospect Heights Fire Protection District

Fatal crash in Prospect Heights, 8-27-22

Aug 27

Posted by Admin in Apparatus on-scene, Crash scene photos | 3 Comments

From the Prospect Heights Fire District:

At 0549 Prospect Heights Squad 9 was dispatched to a car fire at the Motel 6, 540 Milwaukee Avenue. Before they left quarters it was upgraded to an accident with entrapment adding Battalion 9, Ambulance 9, Chief 900, plus Wheeling Ambulance 23, Ambulance 24, Engine 23, Tower 24, and Mount Prospect Truck 14. Multiple calls indicated the car had hit the levee wall and went into the Des Plaines River. Then it was reported there were victims in the river, possibly children. A swift water compliment was added: Wheeling Battalion 24 and Dive Squad 24, Dive 63 and Squad 63 from Des Plaines, and a Lincolnshire-Riverwoods boat.

The crash was located just south of the Motel 6 at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and River Road. On arrival, companies found an SUV that had crashed through the guard rail and went over the concrete levee wall into the Des Plaines River. One occupant was ejected with other possible occupants in the car. First arriving companies laddered the levee wall and went down the embankment to the car, where they extinguished the fire before starting a shore-based search. The ejected victim was DOA. The search of the river did not reveal any additional victims.

The Des Plaines River levee is a concrete wall that runs along the east side of Milwaukee Avenue south from Palatine Road to just north of Euclid/Lake Avenue. It is about 12 inches thick and extends several feet below grade so as to resist erosion. It extends above grade anywhere from a few feet tall to a height of over ten feet. At the location impacted by this car, it was 5-6 feet high. It appeared the impact may have moved the top of the levee wall as much as two inches closer to the river.

#chicagoareafire.com; #ProspectHeightsFPD; #fatalcrash; #FireTruck; #Spartan;

Prospect Heights FPD photo

#chicagoareafire.com; #ProspectHeightsFPD; #fatalcrash; #FDdivers; #carfire;

Prospect Heights FPD photo

Tags: car burns after a crash, car crashes in the Des Plaines River, chicagoareafire.com, fatal crash in Prospect Heights, Prospect Heights FD Squad 9, Prospect Heights Fire Protection District

Prospect Heights Fire Protection District news

Aug 15

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

From the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District:

Battalion Chief Recruitment

Currently the PHFD has one shift without a battalion chief. Under the recently adopted collective bargaining agreement the fire chief is entrusted to appoint the battalion chief. The PHFD has fewer candidates for battalion chief than desired as a result of several

personnel actions in the past few years that included the PHFD’s transition from some part time officers to all full time officers and an increase in the number of full time firefighter/paramedics. Therefore, the PHFD is conducting a search for external candidates for battalion chief. Any identified external candidates will be evaluated with the internal candidates in an effort to identify the best candidate for battalion chief. It is anticipated that the review, selection, and appointment will occur in the next 90 days.

Link to Complete Recruitment Document and How to Apply

Tags: Prospect Heights Fire Protection District, Prospect Heights Fire Protection District seeking candidates for Battalion Chief

Prospect Heights Fire Protection District news

Apr 22

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from the journal-topics.com:

Vanessa Kieres was hired Feb. 16 as the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District’s first full-time female firefighter. While the district has had other women serve in part-time roles, Kieres is the first to be hired to a full-time position.

Kieres also stood out because of her physical fitness and background as a team player and athlete. She grew up playing basketball in Edison Park before attending Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette. In high school she was all-conference and an honorable mention all-state selection, setting the school record for points scored with 34 in a game. She would go on to play basketball for four years at William Penn University in Oscaloosa, Iowa, majoring in exercise science.

Kieres graduated from the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Academy in March 2020, where she passed the basic operations firefighter certification. She spent her first two years as a firefighter/paramedic in LaGrange before coming to Prospect Heights.

The Prospect Heights Fire Protection District serves about 16,700 residents within the city of Prospect Heights and adjacent unincorporated areas of Cook County. Last year they responded to 2,415 calls for help — more than any year in its history. Consequently, since November, the district has hired four new full-time firefighter/paramedics.

Formed in 1944 — predating the city’s incorporation in 1976 — the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District was originally a volunteer fire department until it began to use part-time employees in the late 1980s. The paid workforce has expanded over the past 30 years to include full-time firefighter/paramedics, starting in 2005. The current force contains 17 full-time members and 13 part-time members.

Tags: first female firefighter joins the Prospect Heights FPD, Prospect Heights Fire Protection District

House fire in Prospect Heights, 1-26-22

Jan 27

Posted by Admin in Apparatus on-scene, Fire Department News, Fire Scene photos | 2 Comments

From the Prospect Heights Fire District:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 26, 2022

PROSPECT HEIGHTS —Wednesday, January 26 at 7:48 p.m. the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District was dispatched to a reported fire at 108 Patricia in Prospect Heights.

Upon arrival, a two-story home was found to have fire in the attic. Heavy smoke was coming from all eaves of the roof, and no fire had spread into the home’s interior. Within a few minutes of their arrival, the first engine had a hose stream on the fire and extinguished the original fire. Efforts were then focused on the fire spreading in the roof and attic. Simultaneous with this, a search was made of the home to ensure everyone was outside. The fire was brought under control and extinguished within 20 minutes of arrival using two hose lines and more than a dozen fire apparatus. Approximately 40 firefighters composed the response force. Firefighters spent nearly one hour checking for hot spots and fire spread to ensure the fire was completely out.

A total of five engines, five water tankers, two aerial trucks, two ambulances, one rescue squad, and several chief officers were at the scene. Besides the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District and Wheeling Fire Department that were initially dispatched, assistance was provided by Des Plaines, Glenview, Mount Prospect, and Libertyville fire departments; the Elk Grove Township, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, and Long Grove fire protection districts.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Prospect Heights Fire Protections District reminds everyone to always have two ways to escape from their home, to ensure smoke alarms are present and working, and to develop an emergency plan should their home be destroyed by a fire or other disaster.

Fire sprinklers save lives and property. Had this structure been equipped with fire sprinklers, the original fire would have been extinguished prior to the arrival of the fire department or at the worst, contained to the single room where it had started.

#larryshapiro; #shapirophotography.net; #firescene; #ProspectHeightsFPD; #firefightersatwork

Larry Shapiro photo

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Tags: #larryshapiro, chicagoareafire.com, fire department tanker nursing an engine, house fire in Prospect Heights, Larry Shapiro, night fire scene photos, Prospect Heights Fire District, Prospect Heights Fire Protection District, Prospect Heights FPD Battalion 9, Prospect Heights FPD Squad 9, Prospect Heights FPD Tanker 9, shapirophotography.net

MVA with fire in Prospect Heights, 5-1-21

May 2

Posted by Admin in Crash scene photos | Comments off

This from Prospect Heights FPD Chief Drew Smith:

At 05:07 on Saturday, May 1 Prospect Heights and Wheeling companies were dispatched to an accident with extrication on eastbound Palatine Road near Wolf. First arriving units found a minivan on fire and at least two other cars involved. The scene was located just east of the Canadian National railroad bridge. No one was transported to the hospital despite the damage to the vehicles involved. A Superior ambulance was also on scene as they could not pass the crash scene. I am told they began triage before companies arrived.

Wheeling Firefighters stretch on a car fire after a crash

Prospect Heights FPD photo

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Tags: crash scene photos, crash scene with multiple vehicles, Firefighters extinguish minivan on fire, minivan on fire after crash, MVA on Palatine Road in Prospect Heights, Prospect Heights Fire Chief Drew Smith, Prospect Heights Fire Protection District, Wheeling FD Engine 23

New Engine for Prospect Heights (more)

Apr 21

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, New Delivery | 5 Comments

From Prospect Heights FPD Chief Drew Smith:

I made this 3-minute video of our new 2020 Alexis/Spartan rescue pumper, SQUAD 9, for our Board of Trustees who continue to meet remotely.

Tags: Alexis Fire Apparatus, chicagoareafire.com, New Engine for Prospect Heights, new engine for Prospect Heights FPD, Prospect Heights Fire Chief Drew Smith, Prospect Heights Fire Department, Prospect Heights Fire Protection District, Prospect Heights FPD Squad 9, video of new fire engine

New Engine for Prospect Heights (more)

Jan 12

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Truck photos, New Delivery | 9 Comments

The Prospect Heights Fire Protection is proud to announce it has taken delivery of its 2020 Alexis/Spartan rescue pumper. It is outfitted with a 1500-GPM pump, a 750-gallon water tank, and 60-gallon Class B foam tank for the around-the-pump foam system. The clean cab concept was used and all PPE, SCBA, and tools will be carried in the compartment behind the cab. Only EMS gear will be carried in the cab. The apparatus sports our new appearance (all red with grey stripe and door logo) that we adopted with the 2017 and 2018 rechassis of two ambulances. The signature SQUAD 9 was adopted as it is replacing our Alexis/Freightliner squad pumper. It will carry all of the squad’s gear and will run out of Station 9. The current Engine 9 will be reassigned as Engine 39. The 2001 ALF/Alexis pumper will be placed into reserve. This will ensure that when a frontline apparatus goes down we will have a pumper with sufficient GPM capacity, 1500 feet of LDH, and 750 gallons of water serving in its place. While we originally set out to replace the 2001 ALF/Alexis, we determined that keeping it was a better option than keeping the Alexis/Freightliner with its 500-gallon tank, 1000-GPM pump, and only 600 feet of LDH. Late last year we reviewed how the new apparatus would fit into the fleet and responses, and it was determined it really is a squad and would be best at Station 9. Our officers rotate stations so they felt it wouldn’t matter which firehouse received the new apparatus.

Prospect Heights FPD photo

This apparatus was the result of a committee than began in September of 2018 and conducted meetings for about eight months before requesting proposals. In June of 2019, the proposals were opened and at the August 2019 Board of Trustees meeting the purchase was approved. Construction commenced in September 2019 and proceeded until COVID-19 shut down plant operations for a short period. After a few change orders we have finally arrived at delivery and couldn’t be happier with the final product. This is the fifth Alexis apparatus for the PHFD. Four were purchased using competitive bids. The tanker was an emergency purchase.