This is the first in what will be a multi-part posting about Saturday night’s 4-Alarm fire with 2 specials in Northlake. Multiple contributors were at the scene.
4-Alarm fire in Northlake on 2-15-14. Steve Redick photo
Prior to receiving multiple cellphone calls, someone knocked on the door of the Leyden Township FPD station at the corner of Mannheim and Grand just before 6PM to report a fire four blocks down the road. Units found heavy smoke pushing from a one-story, commercial structure with a bow-string truss roof. The building was occupied by a tire business and was currently full of tires.
The fire, at 2200 N. Mannheim Road was in the Northlake Fire Protection District. (opposite sides of the intersection belong to either the Leyden Township FPD or the Northlake FPD). The Still Alarm was filled out and a Box Alarm, then a 2nd Alarm were requested within minutes, followed very shortly be the 3rd and 4th Alarms.
The roof collapsed early and sent flames several hundred feet into the air as companies setup elevated master streams from the Leyden quint, trucks from Northlake and Franklin Park, and then the Schiller Park tower ladder.
Here’s the rundown of companies and alarms:
- Still Alarm: Northlake Engine & truck; Leyden quint; Melrose Park engine
- Full Still: Bensenville engine; Leyden ambulance; Elmhurst truck
- Box Alarm: engines from Hillside & Stone Park; Franklin Park truck; Schiller Park tower ladder; ambulances from Bensdenville & Melrose Park
- 2nd Alarm: engines from Berkely & Elmwood Park; Rosemont tower ladder; Broadview squad
- 3rd Alarm: engines from Norwood Park & River Grove; Addison tower ladder
- 4th Alarm: engine from Park Ridge and Villa Park
- 1st Special Alarm: Interdivisional request for an engine Task Force from Division 3; North Maine, Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview, & Prospect Heights
- 2nd Special Alarm: Foam Task Force from Chicago Division 9; Battalion 8, Engine 10, Squad 7, Squad 7A, ARFF 6-5-3
- Also at the scene were: Bellwood bus, Bellwood command post, Bellwood tower ladder, River Grove ambulance, Schiller Park ambulance, MESS Canteen, Salvation Army Canteen, O’Hare Towing, numerous ESDA units, multiple chief officers
#1 by The DH on February 19, 2014 - 8:14 AM
Sebastian, the Box Cards are written out by the chiefs of each department, and those departments then either say yes or no to sending the equipment. So essentially they can put whoever they would like. If that means they skip a couple closer towns until later or completely, then that’s how it is.
#2 by Chuck on February 18, 2014 - 9:24 PM
That would make an interesting convoy down 294 to Irving and then over on Mannheim, or however they traveled.
#3 by Dfdoldtimer on February 18, 2014 - 9:02 PM
Box cards for towns do not have to include towns inside that division if other division towns are closer. Is it possible those towns passed causing them to not be there. You are over thinking this “issue”
#4 by Sebastian on February 18, 2014 - 8:58 PM
Again i understand the whole interdivisional thing. I don’t understand why maywood or westchester weren’t send? And park ridge whom isn’t a member of division 20 was! Also both westchester and maywood are closer than park ridge!!
#5 by Drew Smith on February 17, 2014 - 9:52 PM
The interdivisional was a request for an engine strike team. That’s five engines. When such a request is made it is the sending division that selects which companies will go. The requesting division does not specify departments when the request is for a Strike Team or Task Force. Also, when the request is for a ST or TF the sending division companies are to muster at a POC and convoy to the incident. In this case, the Division 3 companies mustered at North Maine or at least that was the initial instruction from RED to our E9.
#6 by sebastian on February 17, 2014 - 5:46 PM
One question that I have is why wasn’t Either Maywood or
Westchester dispatched to the fire? and an interdivisional from prospect heights and glenview was dispatched?
#7 by Admin on February 17, 2014 - 6:27 PM
Westchester was busy and Maywood was there – missed ’em on the rundown
#8 by FFEMT on February 16, 2014 - 3:11 PM
Beth…not quite sure where you’re getting your timeline from. The piece pretty clearly reads: “Prior to receiving multiple cellphone calls, someone knocked on the door of the Leyden Township FPD…”
Pingback: 4-Alarm fire in Northlake, IL – February 15, 2014 (pt1) | FireScenes.Net
#9 by Beth on February 16, 2014 - 12:45 PM
Was there a delay in response to this location, due to confusion on who should respond? Leyden vs Melrose Park.? I ask because your article sounds like a few calls were made to report the smoke coming from the building, but nothing was done until someone knocked on the firehouse door. That’s what it sounds like in the article.. I use to live over that area. Unincorporated Melrose, but, we couldn’t call M.P. police and andcouldnt call Northlake we had to call county. It was all pretty confusing for sure.
Pingback: 4-Alarm fire with 2 specials in Northlake, 2-15-14 (part 2) « chicagoareafire.com
#10 by fmddc1 on February 16, 2014 - 6:54 AM
Steve, Thank’s again for all your videos and posts. We all really appreciate it.