Archive for April, 2012

Antioch FD moving to CenCom

Apr 20

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

Ron Wolkoff provided the following information:

The Antioch Fire Department is switching to CenCom (Round Lake Dispatch) for their dispatching.

The Daily Herald has an article which states that:

The Antioch 9-1-1 dispatch center will shut its doors in 21 days, eliminating the jobs of 12 employees and forcing other agencies to find new emergency dispatch services.

Antioch’s center provides emergency dispatch services for Antioch Fire Protection District and Lindenhurst Police.

Antioch (police) will join CenCom E911 Public Safety Communication Center in Round Lake Beach. CenCom currently dispatches for Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Hainesville, Lake County and many others.

The Antioch Fire Protection District will also join CenCom, fire chief John Nixon said.

The entire article an be found HERE.

Tags: Antioch FIre Department, Antioch First Fire District, CenCom 911 Dispatch

The color of fire trucks (part 3)

Apr 20

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News, Historic fire apparatus | Comments off

The third post in this series outlines the departments in Division 2 that have converted their apparatus over the years to red.

The Bartlett & Countryside Fire Protection District had several generations of engines that were painted bright yellow. These included two Hendickson-Howe engines, one Ford-Howe engine, one Ford-Grumman engine, two Seagrave engines, and a Chevy-Super Vac squad. They switched to black over red in 1986.

Bartlett & Countryside FPD Hendrickson Howe top-mount engine

This unit that was assigned as Engine 612 was delivered in 1973 by Howe. It featured a small top-mount pump console for the 1,000-GPM pump. It carried 800 gallons of water and was on an International chassis with a Hendrickson 1871S cab. Larry Shapiro collection

The Hanover Park & Ontarioville Fire Protection District had multiple units that were white over lime green before switching to black over red in 2001. They had three Hendrickson-Howe engines similar to the ones in Bartlett, a Hendrickson-American-LTI truck, a Spartan-EONE squad, a Spartan-EONE engine, and an EONE Cyclone engine, all of which were painted white/green.

Hanover Park FIre Department Hendrickson LTI fire truck

Hanover Park ran this 1977 American Fire Apparatus unit that had a 100' LTI rear-mount aerial and was built on a Hendrickson chassis with an 1871S cab. Larry Shapiro collection.

Previous posts in this series are HERE and HERE.

Tags: American Fire Apparatus, Bartlett & Countryside Fire Protection District, Bartlett Fire Protection District, different colors for fire trucks, Hanover Park Fire Department, Hendrickson 1871-S cab and chassis, Hendrickson chassis, Howe fire apparatus, Howe top-mount engine, Larry Shapiro, lime green fire trucks, LTI 100' aerial ladder, Ontarioville Fire Protection District, slime lime fire engines, the color of fire engines, yellow fire trucks

New tower ladder for Bellwood

Apr 19

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

From Josh Boyajian:

Found this on Fire Service Inc’s Facebook page today. Bellwood’s new 95′ Tower Ladder

Bellwood Fire Department 95-foot tower ladder

Tags: Bellwood Fire Department, Bellwood receives new tower ladder, Josh Boyajian

Vintage CFD Fire Photos

Apr 19

Posted by bgshap in Historic fire apparatus, Historic Fire Photo | 16 Comments

Another installment of vintage Chicago fire photos from the collection of Bill Friedrich featuring an early Snorkel Squad and “Big John.”

Chicago Fire Department historical fire photo 1968 vintage

Chicago Fire Department historical fire photo 1972 vintage firefighters

Tags: Bill Friedrich, Chicago FIre Department Big John, Chicago Fire Department history, Chicago Snorkel Squad, fire department history, firefighting photo, Hi-Ranger Snorkel, historic fire photos, vintage fire photos from Chicago

Arlington Heights Box Alarm 4-18-12

Apr 19

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

Arlington Heights house fire basement fire 4-18-12 1142 Fernandez

Heavy smoke pushes out from all sides of the house at 1142 Fernandez in Arlington Heights shortly after companies backed out. Larry Shapiro photo

A homeowner at 1142 S. Fernandez Avenue in Arlington Heights was reportedly refinishing the basement floor with a flammable solvent which somehow ignited. The fire department received calls reporting white smoke escaping from multiple areas of the home around 5PM on Wednesday. When police arrived and confirmed the reports, Arlington Heights Battalion 1 upgraded the response to a working fire before companies arrived on the scene. The homeowner fled the house then ran back inside before the fire department arrived. He then escaped with 1st degree burns to his face after taking in smoke as well. Responding at this point were two engines from Arlington Heights plus their tower, a squad, two ambulances, and several chief officers. A truck from Des Plaines, a Rolling Meadows engine, an engine from Elk Grove Township, a Rolling Meadows ambulance, and a Mount Prospect engine were the mutual aid companies.

Arlington Heights house fire basement fire 4-18-12 1142 Fernandez Pierce Quantum

Arlington Heights Engine 3 was the first engine on-scene. Four lines were working off this engine, both pre-connects and two skid loads. Larry Shapiro photo

Arlington Heights Engine 3 took a line into the house and encountered fire and high heat as they descended the basement stairs. A second line followed very quickly, and though companies made progress, the basement became untenable and they had to withdraw.

Arlington Heights house fire basement fire 4-18-12 1142 Fernandez Pierce tower ladder

Arlington Heights Tower 1 was in front of the building and preparing to go up with firefighters to vent the roof. Larry Shapiro photo

Schaumburg firefighters went to the roof to ventilate. Larry Shapiro photo

Realizing that the fire was burning unchecked, the alarm was upgraded again to a MABAS Box Alarm. This added Prospect Heights Squad 9, Palatine Rural Engine 36, the third Arlington Heights engine, Elk Grove Village Engine 9, Elk Grove Township Ambulance 11, and Schaumburg Truck 52.

At one point in time there were six Pierce Quantum engines at the scene. Engine 3 was the still alarm engine with multiple lines off. Larry Shapiro photo

Another hose line is stretched to the front of the building. There would eventually be seven lines on the fireground. Larry Shapiro photo

Heavy smoke continues to vent from the house. Larry Shapiro photo

A total of seven lines were used throughout the three-hour battle to contain the fire. Smoke pushed out of all sides and firefighters put two cellar nozzles to work attempting to hit the basement fire. Roughly 20 minutes into the fire, command was informed that a portion of the first floor had burned through and all companies were ordered to remain outside in a defensive posture. One firefighter from Arlington Heights was taken to the hospital after being knocked onto his back while exiting the house early in the operation.

Arlington Heights house fire basement fire 4-18-12 1142 Fernandez injured firefighter

An Arlington Heights firefighter receives assistance after being pulled out of the house. Larry Shapiro photo

Heavy smoke envelopes the injured firefighter and the medics as they head toward the ambulance. Larry Shapiro photo

The basement was reportedly filled with water to the window level after several hours of flowing multiple lines through the window wells, the first floor, and a hole that was breached in the front of the house.

Working on the 'D' side of the house, a hose line is directed into the basement through a window well. Larry Shapiro photo

Smoke vents on the 'B' side of the house from the first floor. Larry Shapiro photo

A front corner wall was breached to allow a line to reach another section of the basement between the floor joists. Larry Shapiro photo

The fire was struck out near 8PM.

Larry Shapiro submitted several images and has a rather large gallery HERE.

Tags: Arlington Heights Fire Department, basement fire, Des Plaines Fire Department, Elk Grove Township Fire Protection District, Elk Grove Village Fire Department, firefighter injured at Arlington Heights house fire, firefighters breach wall to fight basement fire, heavy smoke from house fire, house fire in Arlington Heights, Larry Shapiro, Mount Prospect FIre Department, Palatine Rural Fire Department, Pierce Quantum, Prospect Heights Fire Department, Rolling Meadows Fire Department, Schaumburg Fire Department

The color of fire trucks (part 2)

Apr 18

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | 3 Comments

Last week’s posting HERE about different colors for fire apparatus mentioned area departments that have apparatus that is not red (or red & white or red & black). Several departments have switched from other colors to red, and several readers pointed out that some still have rigs with the old colors.

This is the first in a series of postings that will highlight the departments that have switched or might have had a unit in the past that was a different color than the rest of the fleet.

Division 1:

Arlington Heights once purchased a Mack CF engine that was a demo and came white over lime green.

Arlington Heights Fire Department 1975 Mack CF engine

Arlington Heights Engine 411 was a 1975 Mack CF engine with a 1,500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

Elk Grove Village had a lime green Mack CF engine.

Elk Grove Village Fire Department Engine 118 1977 Mack CF

Elk Grove Village once owned this 1977 Mack engine with a CF600 chassis. It carried 700 gallons of water with a 1,250-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro collection

Mt. Prospect used to paint their fleet white over yellow. Over the years, this included at least five engines and two mid-ship mounted aerials.

Mount Prospect Fire Department 1975 Pierce engine Hendrickson

Mount Prospect had two engines with the Hendrickson 1871-S cab. One was built by Boyer, and this engine was built by Pierce with a 1,000-GPM pump and 500-gallon water tank. Larry Shapiro collection

Palatine had a white over lime green Seagrave engine.

Palatine Fire Department 1973 Seagrave PB-Model engine

Palatine had this one 1973 Seagrave Model PB engine with a 1,500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

Rolling Meadows had two units that were white over lime green. In addition to this Pierce, they had a medium-duty squad with a PTO pump built by E-ONE on a GMC chassis.

Rolling Meadows Fire Department 1979 Pierce Suburban engine

Rolling Meadows ran with this 1979 Pierce Suburban engine that was built on a Ford L9000 chassis. Engine 612 carried 500 gallons of water and had a 1,250-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro collection

Wheeling apparatus used to be white over lime green. From the late 1960s when Ward LaFrance pioneered the push to painting apparatus lime green through the purchase of the 1994 Sutphen tower ladder that is currently being used, all Wheeling units had this color scheme.

Wheeling Fire Department Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador engine

Wheeling purchased two Model P80 engines from Ward LaFrance on Ambassador chassis. In addition to this 1969 unit, they purchased a second engine in 1971. Engine 1 had a 1,250-GPM pump, 500 gallons of water, and a mid-ship elevating platform with a pre-piped deluge gun. Larry Shapiro collection

And here’s one last image to show the Palm Beach Gardens green that was referred to in the article from the Wall Street Journal.

Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department Rescue Engine 5 Pierce Arrow

Palm Beach Gardens Engine 5 shown here as a 1999 Pierce Arrow with a 1,250-GPM pump and 750 gallons of water. This was formerly built in 1990 on a Pierce Javelin chassis. Larry Shapiro collection

Tags: Arlington Heights Fire Department, different colors for fire trucks, Elk Grove Village Fire Department, fire engines are not always red, fire trucks are red, Hendrickson 1871-S cab and chassis, Larry Shapiro, lime green fire trucks, Mack CF engine, Mount Prospect FIre Department, Mt. Prospect Fire Department, not all fire trucks are red, Palatine Fire Department, Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department, Pierce Suburban model engine, Rolling Meadows Fire Department, Seagrave PB model engine, the color of fire engines, Wheeling Fire Department, yellow fire trucks

Markham gets new engine

Apr 18

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | 3 Comments

The Markham Fire Department in MABAS Division 24 received a new engine from Pierce on a Custom Contender chassis carrying Pierce job #24949.

Markham Fire Department Pierce Contender Engine 1531

thanks Bill and Martin

Chicago FD begins transition to digital radios

Apr 17

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | 6 Comments

Chris Ranck submitted information about the frequencies for the new CFD digital radio system.

The frequencies are UHF digital, so a digital scanner is needed. (I have a Radio Shack PRO 106, which needs to be set as a P25 digital talkgroup).

The frequencies are:

citywide fire 476.6875
CFD EMS main 477.5125
CFD fire main 477.78750
Chicago OEMC 477.9875
CFD fire Englewood 478. 2125
CFD EMS Englewood 478.4625

I read that one bank of the scanner should only have digital frequencies.

There are several analog UHF frequencies.

CFD admin 462.9750
CFD fireground 458.0250
CFD EMS command 458. 1750
CFD command 458.1250
CFD fire tac 470.1625
CFD ops 8 476.2875
CFD ops 9 479.2875
CFD ops 10 477.6625
CFD ops 11 480.6625
CFD utilities 458.0750
CFD events 1 478.5000
CFD events 2 481. 5000
CFD CTA fire 460.0625

There are some other general city frequencies which can be found on either wwwradioreference.com or wwwchichagocarma.com. I hope this helps.

Tags: CFD digital radio system, Chicago begins transition to digital radios, Chicago Fire Department, Chris Ranck, radio frequencies for the Chicago Fire Department

New engine for Channahon

Apr 17

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

The Channahon Fire Protection District in MABAS Division 15 has received a new engine from Pierce on a Quantum chassis.

Channahon Fire Protection District Pierce Quantum engine

thanks Ron & Martin

Tags: Channahon Fire Protection District, MABAS Division 15, new Pierce Quantum for Channahon FIre District, Pierce Quantum

Palatine Rural to lose BC positions

Apr 17

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

The position of Battalion 7 in MABAS Division 1 from the Palatine Rural Fire District will be removed at the beginning of May and Battalion 15 from Rolling Meadows will cover both districts. The two departments have entered into an agreement whereby the three existing Palatine Rural Battalion Chiefs will be reassigned to other duties including the new position of Training and Safety Officer for both departments.

The Daily Herald has an article which summarizes the new arrangements.

In an effort to operate more efficiently, the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District and the Rolling Meadows Fire Department recently agreed to reorganize and combine certain resources.

The departments last month entered into an intergovernmental agreement to share a training/safety officer and battalion chiefs.

Scott Mohr of Inverness-based Palatine Rural was promoted to assistant chief. He’ll work out of the Rolling Meadows Plum Grove Road station and be responsible for all training and safety for both departments.

The new partnership also reassigns Palatine Rural’s three battalion chiefs — two to administration and one to an engine as a company officer. Rolling Meadows’ battalion chiefs will provide incident command coverage on all three Palatine Rural shifts beginning May 1.

“Rolling Meadows wanted a training officer but couldn’t afford it, and my battalion chiefs weren’t being used to their fullest capacity because we don’t have a lot of calls,” (Palatine-Rural Chief Hank) Clemmensen said. “It’s a much more efficient way to operate.”

The complete article can be found HERE.

thanks fyerbuff

Tags: fire departments to share personnel, MABAS Division 1, Palatine Rural Fire Chief Hank Clemmensen, Palatine Rural Fire Department, Palatine Rural Fire District Battalion 7 to be disbanded, Rolling Meadows Fire Department