Chicago working fire, 2-2-14 « chicagoareafire.com

Chicago working fire, 2-2-14

Images from Tim Olk of Chicago firefighters working an alley garage at 48th And Damen on Sunday, February 2nd.

firefighters working garage fire in the snow

Tim Olk photo

Tags: alley garage on fire, Chicago Fire Department, Chicago firemen working, fire scene photos, Tim Olk, winter fire scene images

This entry was posted on February 4, 2014, 7:28 AM and is filed under Fire Scene photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

25 Comments

#1 by T. B. on February 5, 2014 - 9:48 PM

Sorry to Dennis and RPF! This is a BFD! Ha!
#2 by T. B. on February 5, 2014 - 9:47 PM

Dennis, thanks for the information about the air bottle trucks. I do in fact know, nobody is perfect. Life would be pretty boring if everyone was! BFD makes a good point about the use of SCBA. The NFPA is a joke and we all know we will never be able to conform to their standards. Garage fire, house fire, car fire or garbage fire makes no difference to what we should wear. Doing our best and not getting hurt is absolutely key. My point was, PPE and SCBA are very important and should be utilized at any type of fire incident.
#3 by Dennis on February 5, 2014 - 8:02 PM

T.B. ….Chicago doesnt have a Air FIll trucks(One is on order) The bottle trucks just carry full air bottles to and from certain firehouses who have a stroage rack so other companies from that area can switch out their empty bottles. The IC can call for a air mask to the scene but it’s a garage..ok so I will say this to all of you. I have worked both in the suburbs and i work in the city. Just by the pictures alone and not knowing anything else about the incident yes there are a few mistakes happening but with that being said all we are seeing is a moment in time. we dont know what they had before the picture was taken and we dont know what they are getting ready to do after the picture was taken. A new SOP for garage fires was recently released and hopefully all the men can read it and follow the guidelines in it. Not everyone is perfect. no matter a Chicago Fireman, New York fireman, or a suburban fireman from the chicagoland we all dont follow every NFPA guidline or department order to the fullist. All we can do is our best not to get hurt and go home in one piece.
#4 by RPF on February 5, 2014 - 4:28 PM

Rightfully, a lot of discussion about SCBA use ( or lack thereof), but a lieutenant with no bunker pants??? Half the fire photographers you see are wearing more PPE than that.
#5 by T. B. on February 5, 2014 - 12:33 PM

K O’D, I have gotten your point loud and clear! Your last post confirms what I have been saying all along. In your eyes the City Guys can do no wrong and the suburban departments can do nothing right. This is because the suburbs don’t see fire. You are correct that I am commenting on the 3 pictures shown. Overhaul can be just as dangerous as putting out the fire! Commenting on not wearing SCBA or proper PPE makes one a pansy? Talk about common sense? Hmmmm.
- #6 by K O'D on February 5, 2014 - 1:18 PM
  
  TB I work for one of those suburban departments that you mention. Never once did I say the city does no wrong. Don’t know where you work but let’s be honest people that don’t go on calls are the first to jump on the guys that do. Idle time gives guys time to complain and critique others that do. Don’t see the point in commenting, complaining or critiquing something or someone from an incident I was not present at. Part of training is learning from mistakes. I don’t bad mouth fellow brothers about the decisions they made at that time i learn from them. I use the term brothers lightly because I don’t know about you but I don’t remember bad mouthing my brother growing up. I think guys have forgot what brotherhood really is. To many guys want to collect paychecks and call themselves firemen instead of being firemen. Don’t know about you but I didn’t become a fireman to get rich. I did it for the love of the job. Lets respect each other and worry about what we can change and by that I mean the incidents that we are part of.
#7 by Jim on February 5, 2014 - 11:37 AM

I bet at the disability pension board hearings you never hear “we knew the risks of getting cancer and still chose not to wear a SCBA” Which companies were at this fire? I would like to see their run totals to see how busy they are.
#8 by K O'D on February 5, 2014 - 11:35 AM

TB you don’t seem to get my point. Not once did I say not to be safe. We all want to go home at the end of the shift and collect as many pension checks as possible. I don’t like the fact that people can rush to judgement about safety from a couple pictures that only show the end of an incident and none of you saftey critics where actually there. I’m going to take a guess that anyone that would bad mouth guys from 3 pictures work for a department that the incident commander runs the call from a block away probably would have called a MABAS box for a garage fire and had a rehab tent set up for this incident. Be safe but use some common sense and quit being a bunch of lazy boy quarterbacks. And most importantly quit being a bunch of pansies.
#9 by 0.02 on February 5, 2014 - 11:01 AM

Look things down there are different. Not making it right or advocating for them but yes things are different. This department just went to bunker gear less then 10 years ago and during this last decade have just started to really put an emphasis on safety after some terrible incidents that left brothers either dead or seriously injured to the point of putting then off the job. There is only so much you can manage and change comes slow with such a big organization, especially when you’re dealing with people that have 30-40 years on. Old habits die hard and I think the new groups of firefighters coming on safety is being stressed more but just realize that change takes time. Oh and saying that everyone should be fired for not following the rules is ridiculous too because we all live in glass houses.
#10 by T. B. on February 5, 2014 - 7:49 AM

Matt and K O ‘ D, I dont get your reasoning here? It’s not worth carrying on any further. I’ve made my point and the majority agree. Use the tools and equipment you are given, and be safe!
#11 by K O'D on February 5, 2014 - 7:18 AM

There are only 3 pictures ? Correct ? Fire is out !!!! I still don’t understand how the few saftey critics can critic from the few pictures. Quit jumping to conclusions. These pictures show overhaul not fire attack. Does anyone think that maybe they took packs off when the fire went out. Just because you have 25 years on the job dosent make you a professional nor does it give you the right to bash the actions of guys actually going to fires. Hey matt let’s lay off the teenage text abbreviations. This site is for learning and seeing what departments around the area are doing. Not critiquing guys that are actually going to fires.
#12 by FFPM571 on February 5, 2014 - 7:05 AM

All Hail the big city firefighter has spoken…He is the “real” firefighter…You are all peon’s! Go back to your bunker gear and air packs. You are not worthy to share his title of Firefighter.
#13 by David on February 5, 2014 - 5:18 AM

@T.B.: Safety is one thing but I simply still somehow can’t get just how do you dare to judge these guys from a few pics. Also you wrote that you’ve been 25yrs on the job, so honestly can you say that nobody could have taken a picture like these of you sometime during your career?! I’m not a FF myself, but I can imagine quite well that when you work your ass off the whole shift you use every opportunity to get some rest or make it a bit more easy for yourself. That’s what makes some sense to me. What doesn’t make much sense to me is to hold on to some health&safety rules when you’re tired to death and the situation is not even dangerous. Maybe viewing it through your optics the guys may be in much greater danger of a heart attack from wearing all the heavy stuff all the time than from being blown up by an explosion of an already burnt out car or get a cancer from a bit of smoke.
#14 by The DH on February 4, 2014 - 11:42 PM

Normally, I stay out of these things, but I just have to say that the “big city” v. suburban mentality or being on a busy fire company have anything to do with operating smart and safe and doing everything in your power to go home to your loved ones after shift in the same shape you left them. The job is unpredictable enough, why add in things that are preventable? I don’t know about you T.B. or K O’D or matt, but I want to make it long enough to collect plenty of the pension that I spend 20-25 years paying into and enjoy it…simplest way to have the best shot of doing that is wear your friggin gear….all of it!
#15 by matt on February 4, 2014 - 11:05 PM

T.B. how about this….. what i am going to say is we are all grown men who all know the risk.. We all know the stories.We all have lived stories.. We all know our job.. We all do our job. this goes for urban suburban and rural.. so yes STFU. oh and for you to get this worked up over a post speaks volumes.
#16 by T. B. on February 4, 2014 - 10:50 PM

K O’D, are you serious? They are? White smoke versus gray/black smoke? Of course they are doing their job but, not safely. I have been in the Fire Service for 25years and you are wrong! Chicago has Air Units to refill bottles. Your comment about leaving firefighting to firefighters is nuts! Matt, being a critic is not common sense here. Being a Monday morning quarterback is also absurd. Learn what? Their stupidity for not wearing the air packs they are provided? I’m not a know it all, Im just expressing my view on common sense. So obviously you are saying this is a common and acceptable practice in all major cities??? Maybe you should STFU?! Chuck, you are right on target!
#17 by Chuck on February 4, 2014 - 9:38 PM

Anybody see the CFD documentary “Everybody Goes Home’? What was one of the PRIMARY THINGS they said? “WEAR YOUR GEAR!” If that car explodes, and you’re standing there when it does without bunker pants on, as the Lieutenant is, how the F**K is the Fire Commissioner going to explain to his family why he’s laying in a burn unit missing his legs? Or 3rd degree burns over 50% of his body? Better yet, go look up the story of FF/Paramedic Scott Lietz (RIP) of Tower Ladder 54, and see what happened to him and was responsible for his death, and you’ll see that this is NOT Monday morning quarterbacking!
#18 by matt on February 4, 2014 - 8:17 PM

got to be honest i think everyone should just mind their own business stop being a critic and maybe just learn. nobody likes a monday night quarterback nobody likes a know it all. Look at all major cities and how they perform.. oh and how about just STFU
#19 by K O'D on February 4, 2014 - 7:09 PM

For all of you that are worried about products of combustion maybe you should learn to tell the difference between steam and smoke. I don’t believe anyone is going to put their life in danger for a garage. These guys are doing their job. If any of you few armchair quarter backs have actually been to a couple fires in the same day you would drop your packs the first chance you get. Don’t critique from a few pictures. It sounds to me that a few saftey critics out there dreamed about one day being on a busy fire company but have settled for something else. Leave the firefighting to firefighters !!!!!
#20 by Joseph Morey on February 4, 2014 - 6:39 PM

They might be doing there job best as they can, but not safe for them and fellow brothers without airpacks, because I see a vehicle in the garage in the picture and anything else they might be stored in the garage.
#21 by T. B. on February 4, 2014 - 6:38 PM

David, you are incorrect! Obviously you don’t know what sarcasm is. If you think this is doing their job the best they can, you are just as foolish as they are. They have the proper equipment and they should be using it!
#22 by David on February 4, 2014 - 4:44 PM

@T.B.:”Products of combustion cause cancer”, now thats some hot news. Please spare us, these guys are doing their job as best as they can.
#23 by T. B. on February 4, 2014 - 4:28 PM

Only 1 and possibly 2 people wearing Air Packs? 1 guy wearing only a bunker coat? If I can see correctly, it is a Lieutenant. Do as I say, not as I do. Pathetic! When are these guys going to understand that products of combustion cause cancer? I just don’t get how they still think they are invincible………cancer is an equal opportunity hater.
#24 by Drew Smith on February 4, 2014 - 9:01 AM

I could not agree more.
#25 by B Murphy on February 4, 2014 - 8:56 AM

Good pictures for a health/safety/leadership class.