Shortly after 8PM Wednesday evening, a caller reported a basement fire at 884 Swan Boulevard in unincorporated Lake County. The area off of Inverrary Road west of Milwaukee Avenue is covered by the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods FPD, and there is only one point of access into and out of the subdivision.
First arriving units were greeted by the homeowner outside the unit with severed burns to both feet. They reported heavy smoke pushing out of the center unit and upgraded the alarm to a Code 4 (working fire) and then immediately to a Box Alarm. Lincolnshire-Riverwoods had two engines, a quint, three ambulances and two chief officers on the scene. Mutual aid with engines came from Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, and Northbrook. Squads came from Prospect Heights (RIT) and then from Loncolnshire-Riverwoods Station 51. Deerfield was at the scene with a truck, and additional ambulances came from Lake Zurich and Wheeling. Chief officers came from Long Grove, Prospect Heights, Deerfield, and Mundelein.
Lincolnshire-Riverwoods paramedics transferred patient care of the homeowner to the Wheeling ambulance, which transported to Condell Hospital. Two lines went into the fire unit and an additional line was pulled to an exposure unit, while Buffalo Grove firefighters went to the roof to ventilate. The fire was stopped quickly and contained to the unit of origin, but not before burning through the first floor ceiling to create a hole on the second floor. A dog perished in the fire.
The Mess Canteen was at the scene and setup near Lincolnshire-Riverwoods’ new dive/rehab unit.
Larry Shapiro and Tim Olk were both at the scene. Images and a video from Larry are in this post and images from Tim are forthcoming.
View from the rear just after the interior companies hit the fire and took out the windows. Larry Shapiro
Light smoke escaping from the front door. Larry Shapiro photo
The burn victim is transferred to another ambulance. Larry Shapiro photo
Smoke escapes from the rear of the unit. Larry Shapiro photo
Lincolnshire firefighters are relieved after making the initial attack. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters vent the roof. Larry Shapiro photo
Engine 52 had several lines off. Larry Shapiro photo
Truck 53 laddered the roof. Larry Shapiro photo
Buffalo Grove firefighters venting the roof. Larry Shapiro photo
Lincolnshire Engine 52 was the first-in engine. Larry Shapiro photo
The MESS Canteen was at the scene. Larry Shapiro photo
Lincolnshire-Riverwoods FPD Truck 53. Larry Shapiro photo
LRFPD Dive/Rehab 51 was the base for rehab. Larry Shapiro photo
The first floor of the unit after overhaul. Larry Shapiro photo
A gallery with more fire images is at shapirophotography.net.
#1 by scott on April 7, 2013 - 10:11 AM
Bill, I always appreciate your insight and comments, especially with the CFD. However in regards to the opinion about auto-aid for Lincolnshire-Riverwoods maybe you’d have better luck at a LNRV Fire Protection Dist meeting and/or meeting w/Chief Krueger and giving him your thoughts and data as well as Chief McIasac from Wheeling. That would make more sense than the blog to get your point across. I’m sure the meeting will change decades of politics and manning…
#2 by Drew Smith on April 6, 2013 - 2:29 PM
24 has two men on A24 and then two that jump between the truck, squad, or third ambulance. Wheeling uses its third ambulance frequently.
#3 by Bill Post on April 5, 2013 - 4:56 PM
So Drew if Station 24 only runs with 4 men besides the battalion chief, then I presume that they must run with 2 men on Ambulance 24 and the other 2 men would either run on the tower ladder or the squad, depending on what apparatus was needed?
#4 by Bill Post on April 5, 2013 - 4:49 PM
Yes Rob, the area that belongs to Buffalo Grove west of Milwaukee Avenue would be a decent place for a fire station, however if it was built in the Deerfield Parkway area that you are talking about it should be built right off of Milwaukee Avenue as the CAFT (combined area fire training center) is a little too close to Station 26 for another fire station. Station 26 is barely over a mile from the CAFT center. The border lines of the different communities and fire departments are so close to each other that it makes perfect sense to forget about the town jurisdictions and just have fire station running districts based on the nearest fire station to the location of the incident.
They wouldn’t even have to merge the fire departments into one big fire department if they didn’t want to. They have been doing it that way in the metropolitan Phoenix (AZ) area for quite a while now. Even though each fire department is separate, they run the companies and the dispatches as if it were one large fire department and the nearest companies will be dispatched to the incident (even if it is in a neighboring community that is only a few blocks away from the fire station). They use a unified dispatch center like RED Center, but on a larger scale.
#5 by Drew Smith on April 5, 2013 - 3:58 PM
The reason this sort of thing gets built this way is that the area is unincorporated – you see this all over the Chicago area. Municipalities tend to plan while in these unincorporated areas all you have to do is meet the zoning. Some would say that’s OK but in the fire service we assume that something bad will happened, not what if it happens.
Bill, Wheeling basically runs a two station operation with three stations. 23 and 42 run the engines, and 23 and 24 run the ambulances. The town is basically splint in two. 24 also houses the battalion, truck/squad/3rd ambulance. 24 is staffed with five: BC and 4 FF/PMs. This situation came about as a result of several factors beyond the control of the FD, the main one being the timing of starting to build two new stations and the simultaneous downturn in the economy. The original plan was to have three stations each with an ambulance and another company, but finances halted that plan as well as the plan to build the third station in the northwest portion of Wheeling, west of the railroad. I will leave it to others to make assumptions or comments about the politics of this, but I do know that the Wheeling FD administration had a good plan and that they and the current members give 100% working with what they have.
#6 by Rob on April 5, 2013 - 12:47 PM
That area is actually unincorporated Deerfield protected by Lincolnshire. If this ever does happen since I live in Buffalo Grove the CAFT site once that side of Milwaukee Ave is built up Sta 28 would be built for BG.
#7 by Bill Post on April 5, 2013 - 12:44 AM
Dmc 77 and Drew yes Wheeling stations 24, 42 Buffalo Grove Stations 26 and L/R 52 are all between 3 and 4 miles of the Swan Blvd fire address and the Wheeling Stations are about a half mile closer then stations 26 and 52. There is also no question as to the quality of the job the firefighters did in stopping the fire however the location of the fire in comparison to the closest stations (no matter which of the three fire departments stations we are talking about) is a little beyond the recommended distance for a first due engine or truck company if you go by the ISO (Insurance Service Organization) standards. The ISO standards state the nearest engine should be no further then one and half miles from any point in a built upon area. For a truck company the acceptable distance is two and a half miles. Even if you go by the National Fire Protection Association recommendation 1710 standards the 4 minute travel time for the first due engine loosely translates to about 2 miles distance. It would be smart and safer if the subdivision would extend one or two of it streets that would allow access from the west and from the north (without having to go east to Milwaukee avenue). An example would be to have a street go through to Deerfield Parkway (which would make Buffalo Grove station 26 the closest and quickest engine to the scene) instead of having to go all the way east to Milwaukee ave and then go west again which adds about 2 extra miles to it’s running distance. If one of the streets would be extended to go west of the tracks it would also make it easier for Wheeling Station 42 to have access to the neighborhood as well.
I really am making a case for automatic aide which sends the nearest companies to the fire irrespective of what fire department they are from or the jurisdiction of the towns they located in.
Getting back to the subdivision, even the entrance to the neighborhood at Inverrary and Milwaukee avenue is not closer then 2 miles to the nearest fire station so the east end of the subdivision is cutting it close as far as recommended distance for fire protection also.
A good case could be made for an additional fire station around the Milwaukee avenue corridor most likely near Lake Cook road.
Drew what other company does the crew of Wheeling Truck 24 jump to the squad? That’s surprising that the truck is a jump company as the engine is at station 42 even though I guess that the squad acts as an engine if needed. How many men run from station 24 and on what companies do they run on? I guess that even though station 24 is large, the crew apparently is small in numbers.
#8 by DMc77 on April 4, 2013 - 10:39 PM
I live less than one block due east of the fire building that is in the same subdivision. Countless times I have gone over in my head the response situation both of you mention above. One day as I was leaving the house there was a code 3 down the street. The parade of inbound apparatus coming down Inverrary was mightly impressive. The code 3 turned out to be nothing and I asked if they almost had a traffic jam coming in off Milwaukee Ave., and Bn51 told me no, they were all at the CAFT site!
The main problem I see is traffic delays between this area and the local firehouses. All of them have for the most part a straight shot over here, but rush hour can slow them down a little bit. Otherwise, as Chief Smith pointed out, all of the first due companies are within the same range.
#9 by Drew Smith on April 4, 2013 - 10:08 PM
Bill, I would have to disagree with your assessment of the travel distances from Wheeling 24 and 42 vs. L-R 51 and 52. By my calculations they’re only about a one-half mile difference. 24 and 42 both measure 3 miles while 51 and 52 measures 3.5 miles. BG 26 is about 3.25 miles. I do agree that Wheeling’s truck is closer but L-R staffs their truck 24/7 while Wheeling uses a jump company.
The companies on scene made a good stop. There was a lot of interior damage and given the dense construction and poor access (only one way in-which was blocked after the first due companies positioned on the narrow street) it could have been worse.
#10 by Bill Post on April 4, 2013 - 7:59 PM
This fire was in a bad location because of the limited access to the area. Because of that the fire equipment had to go for another mile once they entered the sub division off of Milwaukee Avenue. Even though Lincolnshire-Riverwoods officially protects this area, Wheeling Stations 42 and 24 are closer, and they could have beat Lincolnshire-Riverwoods to the scene. Even Buffalo Grove Station 26 is closer than most of the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods equipment. Wheeling did eventually respond with an ambulance, but their truck is closer to the scene than the Lincolnshire truck is. The unincorporated area where the fire was should have automatic aide with Wheeling and Buffalo Grove instead of solely depending on Lincolnshire-Riverwoods for a first-due response.