Archive for December, 2014

Fatal crash in Northbrook in injures four

The Chicago Tribune has an article which updates our post from last night about the multiple injury crash in Northbrook:

A 91-year-old woman died and four others were hurt after two cars crashed in Northbrook on Christmas Day, according to authorities.

The accident happened around 7 p.m. near the intersection of Sanders and North Mission Hills roads in unincorporated Northbrook, according to a statement from Tim Smeltzer, deputy chief of operations with the Northbrook Fire Department.

Betty Jorgensen, of the 1800 block of Mission Hills Road, was taken to Glenbrook Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 11:56 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Three more people were in critical condition and one person was in stable condition after the accident, Smeltzer said.

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Multiple injury MVA in Northbrook – 12/25/14

Images from Tim Olk of a two-car MVA in the 1600 block of Sanders Road Thursday evening in Northbrook. Several patients had to be extricated and five were transported to area hospitals classified as ‘Red’, two required a LevelI Trauma Center.

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

firemen work to free patients trapped in a car at night

Tim Olk photo

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Rockford firefighters deliver food and gifts for Christmas

WIFR.com in Rockford has a video and article:

A dozen families now have presents under the tree and food on the table this Christmas, thanks to the Rockford Fire Department. From saving lives to saving Christmas, Rockford firefighters are making sure Santa arrives at every home this holiday, including Shante Wilson’s.

“When I saw all of the fire department come up with all of the gifts in their hands, I wanted to cry but I didn’t want to see my son cry because I didn’t want him to think of sadness when it was really tears of joy,” Wilson says.

Tears of joy, coming from the mother of two year old JR. The family just received presents and a bin full of food from Station One on Rockford’s west side.

“It goes hand in hand with what we do every day, we are always out there on the street, we are a busy department so it’s nice to go out there and see people who we see in the time of need, in a joyful event.”

The department raised more than $9,000 for a dozen local families. While JR is opening his present today, Wilson is surprised to see her name on some of the packages.

The fire department says the gesture comes easy as they do what they do best, respond to those in need.

“Just to see my son open up all his gifts, that’s going to be, that’s going to be the light of my life.”

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CFD firefighters deliver gifts to children

ABC7 has a video and article:

Several North Side firehouses and an organization called Ignite the Spirit came together at the Illinois Masonic Medical Center to deliver Christmas presents to hospitalized children Tuesday. The group had raised $11,000 to buy gifts for children who might not make it home for Christmas.

The firefighters bought about 1,500 in total that will be distributed among four different hospitals in a culmination of a year-long drive to raise money for gifts for children in need of all ages.

This is the 12th time Ignite the Spirit has bought Christmas presents for hospitalized children. Over the years they have raised over $880,000. They said it’s a big thrill, almost as big as a dramatic rescue.

“It’s all encompassed in that same feeling as what we do every day as a fireman,” says Rich Pinksey, founder of Ignite the Spirit. “You know, giving back to the kids, helping people get out of buildings when a building’s on fire. It’s all under that same heading. It’s all good stuff. Yeah, we love it.”

There will be enough presents left over to give to kids for the entire year. Good medicine for tough times, from tough guy firefighters with big soft hearts.

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Firefighters help grieving family

WGNTV has this article with a video segment:

Firefighters from Chicago and Cicero make a special delivery for a grieving family.

Miguel Haro, 44, was shot and killed during a robbery in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, Sunday night. He was working on rehabbing a vacant home and refused to give up money he had been saving to buy Christmas gifts for his daughters, relatives said.

Chicago firefighters who responded to the scene pooled together resources with union leaders and firefighters in Cicero, where Haro lived. On Tuesday, they delivered money, gift cards, toys, and a tablet for Haro’s two daughters, ages 4 and 10.

“While we know that giving them a tablet and some toys and food won’t replace their father, we hope they’ll be able to sleep a little easier tonight knowing their local firefighters and paramedics are thinking about their loss,” said Tim O’Brien, public relations director for the Chicago Firefighters Union.

thanks Dan

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Fire Departments express concerns about hazardous cargo

Excerpts from a Daily Herald article:

A continued spike in oil trains and recent high-profile explosions and pollution spills across the United States have suburban fire departments playing defense.

[Firefighters] interviewed by the Daily Herald for this series of reports on railway hazardous materials releases said they train continually and have mutual aid agreements for worst-case scenarios. But all the forethought in the world could be trumped by issues beyond their control, authorities warn.

It’s more than theoretical in places like Glen Ellyn, where a 1976 derailment spilled ammonia, leading to a massive evacuation and 14 injuries.

And fuel isn’t the only hazardous material emergency firefighters face, records show. The Daily Herald reviewed 15½ years of hazmat reports involving trains and found 345 occurrences in the metropolitan region. The types of chemicals and fuels firefighters could battle on any given day include toxins that pose a health threat with significant exposure such as hydrochloric acid, ammonia or the solvent xylene, and highly flammable liquids such as ethanol or Bakken crude oil.

As one of Illinois’ largest cities, Aurora has about 195 firefighters. There are about 30 hazmat specialists on hand.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis noted that the railroad annually trains about 2,500 local, state and federal first-responders on ways to minimize the impact of a potential derailment. “In 2014, Union Pacific has trained 314 emergency responders on crude oil safety.”

BNSF spokeswoman Roxanne Butler said the railroad trained 8,619 first-responders this year. “We’ll go to any fire department along our railroad and host a hands-on training,” she said.

The Federal Railroad Administration proposes phasing out older DOT-111s that transport ethanol and crude oil within two years. But the policy gives the industry an out, firefighters say, by limiting the restrictions to trains with 20 or more high-hazard flammable cars.

“The (BNSF) railroad goes through almost all of our central business district … if we had a train that was transporting Bakken oil and we had an accident and spill and a few of the containers caught fire — it would have a significant long-term impact on the community,” Lisle-Woodridge’s Krestan said.

The American Association of Railroads said its members support modernized, more durable tank cars.

With busy Union Pacific tracks bisecting his community, Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Company Chief Jim Bodony knows trains carrying hazmat will pass through town frequently. What he balks at are trains potentially carrying ethanol or crude oil idling on tracks for hours on end.

His fears aren’t unprecedented. Before dawn on May 16, 1976, a Chicago and North Western Railway (now UP) train derailed after hitting another freight train on a curve just west of Glen Ellyn, causing a carload of ammonia to gush out, injuring 14 people. Parts of Glen Ellyn and Glendale Heights were evacuated for hours, and the chemical went into the sewers, polluting Lake Ellyn and killing fish.

If there’s a serious release from a tank car, the faster firefighters know what substances are or could be involved, the better, Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie said. Existing policies — where a paper manifest is handed over to first-responders — just aren’t pragmatic, he thinks. He wants real-time electronic access from the railroads as to what chemicals are on the train. So far, that hasn’t materialized.

CN’s Waldron said the railroad’s police communications center can email or fax a train manifest to first-responders when requested during an emergency.

CN and other railroads are offering a mobile app for emergency response officials that “provides immediate access to accurate, near-real-time information about railcars carrying hazardous materials on a train,” Waldron said.

The BNSF’s Butler said the railroad has an emergency number for firefighters to call and get critical information.

thanks Dan

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LODD Anniversary

This from Dan McInerney:

Today is the anniversary of the Stockyards fire, the Ankum/Stringer fire (CFD LODD vacant bldg fire) and the Keokuk triple LODD fire. While the Keokuk fire is not local, it still stands out as a triple LODD that NIST did a fire modeling study on

And this from the Chicago Tribune:

cartoon remembering two CFD FFs

From the Chicago Tribune

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Elgin Community College Fire Science & Safety Vehicles

This from Chris Holmes:

I wanted to share photos of vehicles used by the Elgin Community College Fire Science & Safety program. I took them back in November of this year. They include 3 pieces of apparatus.
Also I recently found out Waubonsee Community College has an engine and an ambulance.  I will work on getting those photos as well. 
Christopher T. Holmes
E-ONE Hurricane fire engine

Christopher T. Holmes photo

Navistar fire engine

Christopher T. Holmes photo

fire department water tanker

Christopher T. Holmes photo

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Deerfield Bannockburn FPD testing for new firefighters

IMG_5827689999530

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2nd Alarm fire with Mayday response in Robbins, 12-19-14 (more)

This from Josh Boyajian:
Here are some of my pictures from the fire in Robbins. Got there fairly quick as we were in Harvey. Got some real good night time photos.
Josh
fully engulfed house fire at night

Josh Boyajian photo

fully engulfed house fire at night

Josh Boyajian photo

fully engulfed house fire at night

Josh Boyajian photo

fully engulfed house fire at night

Josh Boyajian photo

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