The uploading of Chicago Fire Department houses has begun with 41 active links currently. Most of the links are not complete with all of the photos, but they should have placeholders representing each piece of apparatus that is stationed there. As additional photos come in they will be updated for the appropriate houses. Several of the photos represent the units on-scene and may not show the entire rig. These images will also be updated when better shots are available. Most of the firehouse photos are from Hank Sajovic. Dennis Maguire and Jack Connors have been assisting with the verification of apparatus data though they have not yet had the opportunity to review about 16 of the houses that have been added. All the rig data has been updated. Several of the truck company photos have now been updated thanks to Steve Redick.
Archive for September, 2009
The Elmhurst Fire Department opened their new station 2 today … the station was built in front of their former station 2. Elmhurst is not yet featured on this site but hopefully that can be remedied in the near future and will include the new station.
The Northfield Fire & Rescue Department has been added minus one rig. The unit previously assigned as Ambulance 29 is currently being converted and re-lettered as Dive Rescue 29 with the department’s updated graphics. Once this has been completed it will be added to the site. The image of Engine 29 shows the older door decal as compared to Ambulance, Squad, Truck and Utility 29.
There is now an alphabetical index listing all of the departments that are in the MABAS Divisions which are active on the site. When other divisions are added, the index will reflect the new departments. There is also a Chicago FD index (by engine number) that is accessible on the Division 9 page as well as the directories for each of the districts. Both indexes have active links to the stations/departments that are active. This is an alternative to the MABAS Division pages with respect to visiting individual departments. Both the division pages and the indexes will be updated as departments or CFD stations are added.
One more addition to the site today although not complete is Wilmette in Division 3. Stations 26 and 27 both have a few empty placeholders and there are some notes about upcoming changes. Engine 26R is currently at Station 26, but will be renumbered to 27R and relocated to Station 27 at the end of the year when Wilmette takes delivery of their new EONE CII HP100 RM tower ladder. At that time, Station 26 will have Tower 26 and Tower 26R as a backup. There will be no engine in that house as one tower will always be inservice. Until then, Engine 26R is a backup for the Tower company at 26.
Wilmette had purchased and received an EONE CII HP95MM TL which had numerous issues and was not accepted by Wilmette. They have since changed to a rear mount as the replacement which is due in November of this year. Anyone familiar with Station 26 might notice that the photo on the website depicts a center door that is higher that the outer doors. This revision was made to accommodate the new tower ladder.
Thanks to Karl Klotz for submitting images from Highwood and Park Ridge in Division 3 plus East Joliet and Mokena in Division 19. Both stations in Park Ridge have been completed. Highwood‘s posting is missing a photo of the station. East Joliet‘s two stations are complete and Mokena‘s two stations are only lacking the patch and an image of station 1. An interesting piece of apparatus in Mokena is Truck 1629 which is one of the first 100’ RM aluminum aerial ladders from in this area from Pierce.
The Northbrook Fire Department in Division 3 has 3 stations. Although images for a few pieces of apparatus are still to come, all three stations are now represented on the site including the new Pierce Velocity 100′ Tower Ladder at Station 12.
The Arlington Heights link (Division 1) has been updated to include all four stations. There are still a few tidbits that will need to be updated (like the body builder for all of the squads … and a few dates of manufacture) but otherwise the only missing apparatus is the ever elusive ambulance 4 and RE4 which is currently at the fire academy.
Hopefully Elk Grove Village and Rolling Meadows will be the next Division 1 departments to go online.
The North Maine FPD (Division 3) was also added recently. Park Ridge will be added within a few days.
The Chicago FD listing of Districts/Battalions (Division 9) is still being tweaked for accuracy and once this has been completed, CFD rigs and stations will begin to appear on the site. Images are being supplied by several contributors.
new rig on order for Glencoe
Sep 12
The Glencoe Public Safety Department is replacing Squad 30 with a new Pierce Saber pumper squad that is due late this year. The new Squad 30 though will not have an air cascade system as the current unit does.
As a side note, Reserve Engine 30 (E30R) was omitted from the Glencoe page. The 1981 American LaFrance Century Series pumper will be added soon along with several corrections to the other units that have been posted: Ambulance 30 was built by Medtec not Road Rescue, there is no Ambulance 30R, Engine 30 has a 30 gallon foam tank, and Squad 30 has a 40 gallon foam tank.
The Winnetka Fire Department has been added to Division 3. An image of truck 28 is missing though and hopefully this will be added soon. North of Winnetka is Glencoe who has a Public Safety Department which encompasses Police, Fire, and EMS. Glencoe has also been added to the site.
A homepage has been added for Division 19 in Will County. The department pages will come online as the information is checked to go along with the photos that are currently on hand.
The Elwood FPD is the first Division 19 department to ‘go live’. Thanks to Karl Klotz for the majority of the images.
Itasca is in Dupage County which is represented by several divisions although their neighbors are in Division 12. Since the fire district borders and includes some of Cook County in the Northwest suburbs, they also belong to Division 1. They have been added to the site (minus 2 ambulances) and are accessible either through Division 1 or Division 12.
