Archive for June, 2011

CFD HIT 5-1-1 apparatus

There has been a thread running from a previous post about the history of the CFD Hazardous Incident Team apparatus 5-1-1. Here are several photos which describe the changes over the years.

Chicago Fire Department 4-7-5

Prior to becoming a full-time haz mat unit, this 1979 Chevy Stepvan (G-418) was used for haz mat incidents. This unit, with a signature of 4-7-5 was assigned to the Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Services. Bill Friedrich collection.

Chicago Fire Department Flying Squad 4 Mack MB Platt

An image of Flying Squad 4 with their 1970 Mack MB/Platt unit which was identical to the unit that was later reassigned to HIT 5-1-1. Larry Shapiro collection

Chicago Fire Department Flying Manpower Squad 1

This shot is of Flying Squad 1 at the CFD shops prior to being repainted for 5-1-1. Bill Friedrich collection

 

Chicago Fire Department Hazardous Incident Team 5-1-1

1970 Mack MB/Platt (G-306) formerly saw service as Flying Manpower Squad 1. Bill Friedrich photo

Chicago Fire Department Hazardous Incident Team 5-1-1

Another shot of the Mack/Platt unit by Larry Shapiro

Chicago Fire Department Hazardous Incident Team 5-1-1

The first unit purchased specifically for the full-time HIT was this 1990 Spartan Gladiator/Saulsbury (G-492). Larry Shapiro photo

Chicago Fire Department Hazardous Incident Team 5-1-2

Chicago now staffs two full-time Hazardous Incident Teams that use identical rigs. Karl Klotz photo

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3rd Alarm in Lake Zurich on 6-20-11

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

The 3rd Alarm in Lake Zurich's district originated in this attached garage. Larry Shapiro photo

The homeowner at 21396 Brandon Road in Kildeer called the fire department this evening shortly after 6PM to report a fire in the attached three-car garage. Fire protection is provided by the Lake Zurich Fire Department who responded with three engines and a truck. Long Grove responded auto-aid with a 3,000-gallon tanker since this neighborhood is without hydrants. The header could be seen as units went en-route and the alarm was filled out for the working fire. Upon arrival, companies were met with 20-foot flames from the garage which contained two cars. The alarm was quickly elevated to a MABAS Box Alarm and then a 2nd Alarm was requested within minutes. Lake Zurich Engine 4 setup at the base of the driveway after the tower ladder was backed into the driveway.

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Lake Zurich Engine 4 is on the street just outside the driveway where the truck is parked. Larry Shapiro photo

The bulk of the fire was contained to the garage area with some extension into the house and the attic area.

Placement of the Lake Zurich tower ladder on the narrow driveway meant that all of the outriggers were set on grass. Larry Shapiro photo

A skid-load and a 2 1/2 were pulled from Engine 4 which had 1,000 gallons of tank water that was immediately supplemented by 3,000 gallons from Long Grove Tanker 55. As these lines went to work, Lake Zurich Engine 3 laid 900 feet of 5″ down the road where they took an in-line position. Lake Zurich Engine 2 laid out an additional 700 feet of 5″ to the end of the street where they were met by Barrington Tanker 361 who setup their portable tank. The in-line operation was completed before companies ran out of water.

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

After providing Lake Zurich Engine 4 with an additional 3,000 gallons of water, Long Grove Tanker 55 backs down the long block to make way for other units to head to the fire scene. Larry Shapiro photo

The bulk of the fire was contained to the garage area with some extension into the house and the attic area.

Looking east on Brandon Road from the fire scene, Lake Zurich Engine 3 is seen 900 feet away, and in the distance, Engine 2 is another 700 feet farther down at the corner. Larry Shapiro photo

The bulk of the fire was contained to the garage area with some extension into the house and the attic area.

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Arlington Heights firefighters prepare to ventilate the roof as interior crews work to extinguish fire that extended into the attic. Larry Shapiro photo

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

A Lake Zurich firefighter wets down areas of the garage after the fire has been declared under control. Larry Shapiro photo

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Lake Forest firefighters hit the remaining hot spots in the garage after the outer wall collapsed. Larry Shapiro photo

 

A 3rd Alarm was requested for manpower to assist companies with salvage and overhaul. One firefighter was transported to the hospital after going through rehab.

Larry Shapiro went to the scene and although he spotted the header from Buffalo Grove, the main body of fire was knocked down before he arrived at the scene. He submitted several images from the scene.

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Lake Forest also responded to the fire with Engine 422. Larry Shapiro photo

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Mundelein Engine 431 was due on the Box Alarm. Larry Shapiro photo

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Grayslake responded on the 2nd Alarm with Engine 2717 which was staged half a mile from the fire scene. Larry Shapiro photo

Lake Zurich Fire Department house fire Brandon Road Kildeer

Mt Prospect Engine 13 was one of the farthest companies to respond to the fire in Kildeer. Larry Shapiro photo

Departments assisting at the scene included tankers from Long Grove, Barrington, Nunda, Cary, and Palatine Rural. Engines came from Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, Fox River Grove, Grayslake, Mundelein, Mt. Prospect, and Lake Forest. Ambulances on the scene were from  Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Libertyville, Highland Park, and Lake Villa. Squads came from Deerfield, Wauconda, and Gurnee, plus Arlington Heights responded with a tower ladder.

A large gallery of images from the scene can be found HERE.

The Chicago Tribune has an article HERE.

 

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Chicago Fire Department historians

Bill Freidrich submitted the following information for those interested in the history of the Chicago Fire Department.

On June 20th and the third Monday of every month, listen in on Am 1530 for the Chicago Historians including Ken Little, Bill Kugelman and a few others talking about Chicago History. It is well worth listening too this panel of experts.  It is on from 12 noon to 2:30 pm. 5-11 Club past President John Divita moderates the program.  See below for a link to the radio station’s website to hear the live broadcast from  John Divita’s basement studio.

The link is HERE.

 

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Palatine dedicates new station

 

Last week, the Palatine Fire Department formally dedicated their newest station. Station 81 at 1215 N. Quentin Road was actually occupied went into service in the beginning of May. Images of the new and old stations were posted HERE. The Daily Herald covered the event and published an article with photos of the ceremony.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours and a fire engine and ambulance on display were all a part of the festivities that marked the grand opening of Fire Station 81 by the Palatine Fire Department on Saturday. (June 11th)

The original fire station, at 455 W. Dundee Road, will be taken over by the Palatine Masonic Lodge, which had to vacate its location at 150 W. Wilson St. due to the Palatine and Plum Grove improvement project.

The complete Daily Herald article can be found HERE.

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Local chief to head IAFC

From an article in the Daily Herald.

(Palatine Rural FPD) Chief Hank Clemmensen has been elected president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs for a 1-year term effective August 2012.

Since the role requires a ton of travel — he expects to be on the road 300 days of the year — he’ll likely take a 10-month leave of absence from work at the Inverness fire station on Ela Road.

The district’s fire board would name an interim fire chief to take his place, an arrangement worked into the three-year contract Clemmensen recently signed to continue as Palatine Rural’s chief.

The complete article can be found HERE.

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New book on Chicago Fire Houses

Skokie Fire Lieutenant and site contributor Hank Sajovic has authored a book depicting Chicago Fire Houses. The book, which Hank has been working on for quite some time, features all current houses plus closed houses that are still standing. View the book HERE.

Chicago Fire Houses 2011 by Hank Sajovic

Visit Hank’s smugmug site is HERE.

 

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Triple fatal MVA in Prospect Heights

Triple fatal accident in Prospect Heights 6-18-11

The accident scene on Camp McDonald Road at Maple where three teens were killed this morning. The first tree struck is seen behind the unmarked squad car. Larry Shapiro photo

Just after 3AM this morning, the Prospect Heights Fire and Police departments received word of traffic accident on Camp McDonald Road at maple, roughly 50 yards east of Station 9. When Prospect Heights units arrived, they found a single vehicle accident with four occupants. The car apparently lost control while heading east, jumped the curb, hit a tree and a mailbox in one yard before hitting another tree in the next yard. The impact tore the car into two pieces before it could impact the front bedrooms of the house. Three of the four occupants were ejected from the car. Of the four teens, three were killed instantly and the fourth was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

The police department requested the accident recovery team who was on the scene for several hours. The vehicle was finally removed from the scene 12 hours after the accident. The Chicago Tribune has an article HERE, and the Daily Herald has one HERE.

Larry Shapiro went to the scene this afternoon as the vehicle was being removed and submitted a few images.

Triple fatal accident in Prospect Heights 6-18-11

The large tree in the front yard saved the house from being hit as a bedroom is near the impact site. The rear of the car can be seen on the far right and the front of the car rests at the base of the flagpole. Larry Shapiro photo

Triple fatal accident in Prospect Heights 6-18-11

The rear of the car was completely severed by the impact with the tree. Debris can be seen littering the lawn. Larry Shapiro photo

Triple fatal accident in Prospect Heights 6-18-11

The front section of the car is lifted out of the yard by Fries Automotive. The rotator wrecker then swiveled to place the wreckage on a flatbed. Larry Shapiro photo

A large gallery with images of the recovery can be viewed HERE.

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Chicago Engine 2 (fire boat)

Karl Klotz pointed us to a site HERE that outlines the specifications and some other interesting information about building the vessel and the requirements that the builder had to meet. Some of the highlights include:

As is immediately obvious from the photographs and accompanying General Arrangement drawing, this is a vessel for which the design was extremely customized to suit the operating environment. The fireboat was designed and built to operate year-round in Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, and surrounding harbours, which includes up to 30 cm (1′) of first year ice. The combination of a very shallow operating draft and an equally limiting air draft presented a significant design challenge, especially regarding weight estimation: if too heavy the vessel would near the bottom of the shallow river; if too light it would run afoul of the numerous low height bridges that grace the Chicago River through downtown Chicago. The new fireboat will be used to respond to any firefighting, rescue, hazmat decontamination, dive support operations, and other waterway related responses.

The fire-fighting capability is provided by two completely independent pump engines, also CAT model C32 diesels, each rated 745 kW at 1,800 rpm and driving an FFS model SFP250 x 350 fire pump, rated 1,590 m³ (7,000 US gallons) per hour at 10 bar (150 psi). There are four fire-fighting monitors:

Centre Forward – 22,710 Lpm (6,000 gpm)
P&S Forward – 11,355 Lpm (3,000 gpm)
Aft – 11,355 Lpm (3,000 gpm)

The aft monitor is located atop a hydraulically elevating mast, provided by Hunger Hydraulics C.C. Ltd. This raises the monitor to a height of 9.14 metres (30′) above the water. In addition to the main monitors, there is an array of hose manifold connections on each side and at the forward end of the fireboat. There are nine connections on each side and four connections at the forward end of the vessel.

As a side note, the photographs featured were taken by Karl Klotz.

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New tower ladder for University Park

Karl Klotz visited the University Park Fire Department this week to photograph their new tower ladder.

University Park Fire Department tower ladder

University Park Tower Ladder 85 is a 2011 E-ONE Cyclone II. Karl Klotz photo

University Park Fire Department tower ladder at FDIC

The new University Park tower ladder was on display this year at the FDIC in Indianapolis. Larry Shapiro photo

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Skokie flies WTC Patriot Flag

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

A Patriot Flag measuring 30' x 50' was flown in Skokie on Wednesday. Hank Sajovic photo

 

From Hank Sajovic, Lieutenant, Skokie Truck Co. No. 18:

The Skokie Fire Department hosted a Patriot Flag on June 16, 2011. The flag is traveling across the country and will fly in all 50 states. During the week of September 11, 2011, it will fly at all three locations were Americans were killed on 9/11/2001. The 30′ x 50′ flag was flown from Skokie Truck Co. No. 18 at the corner of Skokie Blvd and Golf Road. Members of the Skokie Fire and Police Honor Guard units provided the honors at the raising.

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

Firefighters and officers carry the Patriot Flag so that it can be affixed to the ladder sections of Skokie Truck 18. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

As the flag is secured to the extended aerial ladder, the Honor Guard featuring police officers and firefighters is seen in the background. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

The flag unfurls as the ladder is raised. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

More of the enormous flag is visible as the ladder goes higher. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

The full stature of the flag is visible with Skokie's ladder as a support. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

Members of the police and fire department honor guard. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

The flag waves proudly above the honor guard. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

The immense stature of the enormous flag can be seen here towering over the parking lot and Skokie Truck 18. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

A banner with the names of all who perished on 9/11 travels with the flag. Hank Sajovic photo

Skokie Fire Department flies the WTC Patriot Flag

Proud members of the Skokie police and fire departments at the presentation of the Patriot Flag. Hank Sajovic photo ... that's Hank kneeling on the far left ...

Skokie Fire Department Patriot Flag

Captain Dan Smith Skokie FPB, Jim Walters Skokie Deputy Chief and retired FDNY Lt Joe Torrillo who survived the collapse of both towers (at separate times. He was trapped in the first tower, rescued and then trapped on a rescue boat when the second one collapsed.) Hank Sajovic photo

 

The Trib Local (Skokie Edition) has an article HERE about the flag’s journey. Some excerpts from the article:

The Patriot Flag is traveling across the country in all 50 states and on September 11, 2011, it will fly at the three locations where Americans were killed on 09/11/01.

During the week of June 14, the flag will be in Illinois and is scheduled to fly in the following locations:

6/14 – Chicago (rumored to be at McCormick Place) – Flag Day
6/15 – Orland Park & Joliet
6/16 – Skokie & Morton Grove
6/18 – Marseilles (Middle East Conflict Memorial Wall)
6/19 – Springfield

The Patriot Flag story can be found HERE.

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