Steve Redick joined several other photographers recently taking pictures of south side CFD houses and several suburban departments. He has submitted images illustrating the McCook Fire Department.
McCook 1480. Steve Redick photo
McCook Ambulance 1414. Steve Redick photo
McCook Engine 1416. Steve Redick photo
McCook Engine 1411. Steve Redick photo
McCook Squad 1418. Steve Redick photo
#1 by Drew on September 1, 2012 - 9:59 AM
1411 was the Cincy reject.
#2 by Tom Foley on September 1, 2012 - 12:26 AM
I’m a big supporter of MABAS. However, I think over reliance can be an issue.
Let’s look at MABAS 10 and use McCook as an example. Say there is an industrial incident. McCook would likely get mutual aid from Lyons, LaGrange, Western Springs, Pleasantview, Hinsdale, Brookfield, maybe LaGrange Park, maybe TriState, maybe Summit, and probably the command vehicle from Westmont.
That leaves sparce coverage for some of those towns should they have a working fire or incident. Plus, if there was a working fire or incident in these towns, the “regular” mutual aide is already spoken for.
Ok, so there is really a lot more to this, including relocations, other Mabas companies, etc. I think it’s still a fantastic system. But, even with the best of plans and intentions, I think having sparce coverage and over reliance on mutual aide can and will be a public safety issue… most likely in response time if you are relocating companies from various Mabas divisions and then another working fire comes in for say, LaGrange. You’ll then be going further out to other Mabas divisions, pulling their local resources.
I can’t say it enough in the post. Mutual aid is important and MABAS is a great system. I fault some local governments for cuts and not being able to think not only for their town, but what resources they can allocate as part of MABAS without compromising too much on service to their own coverage area.
#3 by Kevin K. on August 31, 2012 - 9:26 PM
Every department in MABAS 10 (and most others) rely heavily on M/A. Like it or not, that’s the best way for operations to happen. Departments just don’t have the money anymore to fully staff all the apparatus they need.
#4 by Dennis on August 31, 2012 - 9:07 PM
Which one of those engines came from or was built for cinny?
#5 by FFPM571 on August 31, 2012 - 6:00 PM
Wasnt one of the McCook engines originally supposed to be a Cincinatti rig but was refused prior to delivery?
#6 by Tom Foley on August 31, 2012 - 2:27 PM
Isn’t there a lot of industry in McCook? I would have expected a few more pieces of apparatus. They must rely heavily on mutual aide for industry incidents.