Archive for November, 2010

Lake Zurich has been added to the site

Nov 30

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing, Patch | 1 Comment

Lake Zurich has now been added to the departments in MABAS Division 4. They have four stations of which one is in Deer Park and another is in North Barrington. This is a 100% Pierce department for suppression apparatus with four Saber engines, a Dash tower ladder, and a squad with a commercial IHC 4400 chassis. The ambulances are a mixture of Road Rescue and Medtec Type I units on IHC chassis.

The four engines are virtually identical though they span being built between 1997-2002. All but one carry 1,000 gallons of water and have foam tanks. The downtown engine has 750 gallons of water on board.

Lake Zurich Fire Department IHC Pierce squad

Lake Zurich Fire Department Road Rescue ambulance

Lake Zurich Fire Station 4 is located at 21970 Field Parkway in Deer Park. This two-bay house is similar to the other outlying stations. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: Dash, IHC, Lake County, Lake Zurich Fire Department, Larry Shapiro, MABAS Division 4, MedTec, patch, Pierce, Road Rescue, Saber, Type I

Grayslake has been added to MABAS Division 4

Nov 29

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Fire Station, New Listing, Site News | 1 Comment

The Grayslake Fire Protection District covers 25 square miles in the heart of Lake County. They currently run out of two stations and expect to break ground for Station 3 in the spring of 2011. The new station will be on Peterson Road just east of Route 60. Grayslake has a combination of full-time, part-time and contract personnel. Although their truck and two engines are from Pierce, the newest engine is a 2009 Seagrave Maurauder II top-mount which has been featured HERE, and HERE.

Grayslake FPD Seagrave Maurauder II engine

Ambulances in Grayslake are a mixture of Road Rescue and Medtec and they have a tanker on an R-Model Mack chassis which was featured at a fire in Waukegan HERE.

Grayslake FPD Mack R Stuart tender

Grayslake FPD brush truck

Grayslake Station 2 is at 1200 Brae Loch Road on the edge of the College of Lake County campus. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: Grayslake Fire Protection District, Larry Shapiro, MABAS Division 4, Mack R, Maurauder II, MedTec, Pierce, Road Rescue, Seagrave

Rescue Me visits Chicago

Nov 28

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | 1 Comment

Karl Klotz and Tim Olk were on hand when Glenn Bennett, Jr. stopped by at Engine 8’s house in Chinatown this morning on his way to Seagrave with an engine that has been used on the tv show Rescue Me. After posing for photos in front of the house, the rig made another stop in Northfield before venturing further north to Clintonvlle. This engine has seen it’s time on the show and is now going to be readied for sale to a fire department.

FDNY Engine 99 from the TV show Rescue Me sits in Chinatown in front of the house of Chicago Engine 8 and Truck 4. Karl Klotz photo

Engine 99 conforms to older FDNY specs. Karl Klotz photo

FDNY Engine 99 decal Hell on Wheels Rescue Me

A closeup of the "Hell on Wheels" decal which is on the cab of the engine depicts Ladder 62 with a female devil. Karl Klotz photo

Tags: Chicago Engine 8, Chinatown, Clintonville WI, decal, FDNY Engine 99 from the TV show Rescue Me, Karl Klotz, Northfield Fire Rescue, Rescue Me, Seagrave, Tim Olk

Bartlett first department posted in Division 2

Nov 27

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Fire, Fire Department News, New Listing, Patch | Comments off

The Bartlett Fire District covers the Village of Bartlett as well as unincorporated Hoffman Estates and portions of Wayne Township. As such, their district is within two different counties; Cook and DuPage. Bartlett is dispatched via DU-COMM, but is a member of MABAS Division 2. Bartlett has three stations, two of which staff an ambulance and an engine, while the third station has a jump company responsible for a tower ladder, 3,000-gallon tanker (tender), and a brush truck. The rigs have been painted black over red for a number of years now, but previously they were bright yellow. Bartlett currently has a 1993 Seagrave engine that has been decommissioned which was originally delivered yellow and is now black and red.

The newest apparatus are three Pierce Velocity units. Prior to that are two E-ONE units which were preceded by a pair of Seagrave engines. In the 1980s and prior years, Bartlett (known then as the Bartlett and Countryside FPD) purchased Howe and Grumman engines.

A 1993 Seagrave TB30DF 1000/750 TM (sn 78589) which has been decommissioned and is reportedly for sale. This unit was originally painted yellow. Larry Shapiro photo

Engine 612 was the original name for this unit when it was delivered to Bartlett in 1993. This was the second of two similar units in Bartlett, the first of which was delivered in 1991. Larry Shapiro collection

Engine 618 was one of two twin units delivered in 1982. These were both built on Ford C8000 chassis with 1,000-GPM pumps and 750-gallon water tanks. Grumman had purchased Howe and these were labeled as Grumman FireCat units. Larry Shapiro colection

Prior to the two Ford/Grumman engines, Bartlett purchased a pair of these Hendrickson 1871S/International/Howe TM engines. Each carried 750 gallons of water and had a 1,000-GPM pump. This unit was delivered in 1977 and the sister unit was delivered in 1973. Pictured here is Bartlett's old fire station which was across the railroad tracks from the main station. The building is now home to the Hanover Township Emergency Services. Larry Shapiro collection

Shown here at Station 1 on Oak Avenue, Engine 612 was a 1973 Hendrickson 1871S/International/Howe 1,000-GPM TM unit with 750 gallons of water. Unlike Engine 613, this unit had high side compartments. Larry Shapiro collection

Going back even further is this classic 1963 Ford C950/Howe engine #616. Like the units that were purchased later, this had a 1,000-GPM pump and carried 800 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

Another interesting unit is the 1997 HME/US Tanker 3,000-gallon tender. This is one of three area tankers on HME chassis. The other two belong to the Palatine Rural FPD and the East Dundee FPD. All three of these worked the same fire in Barrington during September of 2008.

Bartlett Tender '2' on-scene in 2008 at a 2-11 Alarm fire in Barrington. Larry Shapiro photo

East Dundee FPD Palataine Rural FPD HME US Tanker

Two HME/US Tanker units (East Dundee FPD and Palatine Rural FPD) working side-by-side at a 2-11 alarm fire in Barrington during the summer of 2008. Larry Shapiro photo

Seperated by one tanker (a Freightliner/US Tanker from South Elgin) are the three area HME/US Tanker units in staging at the Barrington 2-11 in June of 2008. Larry Shapiro photo

One final note of interest is the 8,000-gallon, tractor-trailer tanker that preceded the 3,000-gallon HME/US Tanker unit in Bartlett. The tractor was an L-Series Ford.

The 8,000-gallon Bartlett tanker is shown here operating at a 3-11 alarm fire in Barrington's district at Pepper Road and Route 14 on the 10th of November, 1994. Larry Shapiro collection

Tags: Barrington Fire Department, Bartlett Fire District, DU-COMM, E-ONE, East Dundee FPD, Grumman, Hanover Township Emergency Services, HME, Howe, Larry Shapiro, MABAS Division 2, Palatine Rural Fire Department, patch, Pierce, Seagrave, US Tanker, Velocity

Oak Forest is on the site

Nov 26

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing | Comments off

The Oak Forest Fire Department in MABAS Division 24 has been added to the site. Oak Forest has two fire stations with a 5.6 square mile district. The have 28 full-time and 31 paid-on-call personnel. Their fire suppression apparatus is mainly Pierce, but they also have an HME/Luverne engine. Rigs are pained black over red with the exception of two ambulances which are white. The newest ambulance, from Lifeline, is black over red to match the trucks.

Along with the station and apparatus photos, Karl Klotz provided closeup images of company decals from three of the rigs.

Oak Forest Fire Department GMC Lifeline ambulance

The decal from Engine Company 983. Karl Klotz photo

Tags: decal, HME, Karl Klotz, Life Line, Lifeline, Luverne, MABAS Division 24, Oak Forest Fire Department, Pierce

Rockdale is added to MABAS Division 15

Nov 25

Posted by bgshap in Fire, Fire Department News, New Listing | 2 Comments

We have added yet another department in MABAS Division 15. The Rockdale Fire Protection District has one station with a three square mile district. They have two engines, a tanker, a squad, a brush truck, and two support vehicles. The newest engine is a 2008 custom Sutphen top-mount which is backed up by a 1994 FMC Omega pumper on a Sentinel chassis. The cab and chassis were built by Spartan and basically represent the Spartan RS style (round-steel) but there was a custom set of trim packages and options that were unique to the FMC private label.

The Rockdale station has traditional red doors. Karl Klotz photo

Rockdale Tanker 2017 was one of many that were called to assist the Joliet Fire Department on the 20th of March, 2009 in battling the Empress Casino Fire. Larry Shapiro photo

A gallery of images from the Empress Casino Fire in Joliet on March 20, 2009 can be seen HERE.

Rockdale IL FPD FMC Sentinel Omega pumper

An FMC Sentinel tear sheet showing the unit purchased by the Woodstock FPD with the standard Sentinel trim package.

The front cover of the introductory FMC Sentinel brochure.

Tags: 3D Fire Apparatus, Empress Casino Fire, FMC, Joliet, Karl Klotz. MABAS Division 15, Larry Shapiro, Omega, Rockdale FPD, RPI, Sentinel, Spartan, Sutphen

Braceville is added to MABAS Division 15

Nov 24

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing | Comments off

The Braceville Fire Department covers 1.5 square miles in Grundy County. They have one station which is staffed by 17 volunteers responding to both EMS and fire calls. They have two engines, one truck, a brush rig, and an ambulance in addition to a Chevy Suburban. The ambulance and one of the engines were both previously owned by Braidwood. The truck is from the Lyondell/Equistar facility. It is a 1979 tandem axle Seagrave chassis with a 54′ Squrt and bodywork by Pierce. It carries 500 gallons of water plus 500 gallons of foam. The X-Braidwood engine was built in 1982 by Alexis on a Hendrickson 1871-C chassis. The C designates a contour cab. Hendrickson also offered the S or square cab design at the time. This engine is soon to be replaced with a new Spartan Metro Star Darley engine in December. The new engine has a light tower and a complete set of Genesis Rescue tools in the front bumper and at the rear of the unit.

Braceville Fire Department Hendrickson Alexis engine Braidwood

Braceville Fire Department Spartan Metro Star Darley engine

Braceville Fire Department Seagrave Pierce Squrt

Thanks to Karl Klotz for the images and information.

Tags: Braceville Fire Department, Braidwood, Darley, Grundy County, Hendrickson, Karl Klotz, Lyondell/Equistar, MABAS Division 15, Pierce, Seagrave, Spartan, Squrt

Box alarm in Barrington

Nov 23

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Fire | Comments off

The Barrington Fire Department responded to a report of smoke in a vacant restaurant at 301 W. Northwest Highway before 6:30 this evening. Companies arrived to find the structure charged with smoke and proceeded to find the source. In addition to the auto-aid that responded on the initial alarm, Barrington upgraded the incident to a Box Alarm bringing additional units to the scene as a precaution. In fairly short order, the initial companies were able to locate the fire and extinguish it without substantial damage to the structure. Most companies had picked up by 7:00PM. Mutual and auto aid was provided by Long Grove, Lake Zurich, Wauconda, Cary, Fox River Grove, Palatine, and Wheeling.

Barrington Fire Department fire 301 W. Northwest Highway

Barrington Engine 3611 in front of the building is an E-ONE Typhoon. Larry Shapiro photo

The vacant restaurant at 301 W. Northwest Highway sustained minimal damage. Larry Shapiro photo

Barrington Quint 3632 is an E-ONE Cyclone II model HP75 with it's 75' aerial shown here to the roof of the building. Larry Shapiro photo

Both Barrington units working at the scene of the box alarm at 301 W. Northwest Highway are from E-ONE. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: Barrington Fire Department, Box Alarm, Cary Fire Department, E-ONE, Fox River Grove Fire Department, HP75, Lake Zurich Fire Department, Larry Shapiro, Long Grove Fire Protection District, Palatine Fire Department, Typhoon, Wauconda Fire District

A new start for the St. Charles Countryside FPD

Nov 23

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | Comments off

Dennis McGuire, Jr. found this article in the Daily Herald about the St. Charles Countryside FPD changing their name to the Fox River and Countryside Fire and Rescue Department. There has been speculation that the department would split from their contract with the St. Charles Fire Department and form a new department. One thought is that American Emergency Services which is losing a contract to run the Lakewood Fire Department in McHenry County, might run this department in Kane County.

Tags: American Emergency Services, Dennis McGuire Jr., Fox River and Countryside Fire and Rescue, Lakewood Fire Department, St Charles Fire Department, St. Charles Countryside Fire Protection District

Thornton is on the site now

Nov 23

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing | 1 Comment

Karl Klotz has submitted photos and information for the Thornton Fire Department. This is another department in MABAS Division 24 which runs out of one station and covers 2.4 square miles. Aside from a full-time chief, Thornton relies on 30 part-time personnel to staff two Osage ambulances, two engines, one 50′ TeleSqurt, one rescue squad, and a brush rig.

They have a rather interesting mix of fire suppression vehicles. Of the four units, they have one each from Fire Max, Custom Fire, Hackney, and Pierreville (a Canadian builder). One engine is on an International chassis and the rescue has a Ford F800 chassis. The other engine features an early Spartan Gladiator cab and chassis, and the TeleSqurt has an HME 1871 cab and chassis. All the apparatus is red with the exception of Truck 747 which is painted a teal green. Karl tells us that there are several schools of thought as to the choice of color for this engine. One story apparently is that the color was the result of a contest with school children in the mid 1990s. We would be interested to know if this is the reason, or if there is another reason. Perhaps someone reading this blog has an answer. If so, please share it with us.