This from Jeff Rudolph:
11/18/2020 – Beach Park,IL
A homeowner was burning leaves when they blew onto the deck and up against the vinyl sided house. First arriving companies found heavy fire to the exterior of the home communicating inside, and into a detached garage. Command upgraded to the working still, and then to a Box Alarm. Crews were unable to make a safe interior attack. Two dogs reported inside the home, got out safely.
Jeff Rudolph photo
9:28 AM · Nov 19, 2020: 2-11 Alarm Fire at 82nd & Cottage. There are no injuries or transports thus far. No further info. 4-1-10
CFD Media photo
CFD Media photo
Excerpts from Chicago.cbslocal.com:
On Tuesday night, a whistleblower exposed that a critical shortage of city ambulances has been made worse with the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighty ambulances serve Chicago every day. The paramedics often go from one violent crime scene to another.
“Our ambulances are out there,” said Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 spokesman Pat Quane. “They’re running nonstop, 24/7.”
“They’re doing trauma care – that’s battlefield care,” said Chicago Fire Department Paramedic Field Chief Pat Fitzmaurice. He said the department still does not have enough ambulances.
For years investigations found chronic concerns with ambulance response times, which he said is a result of the ambulance shortage. One analysis of 700,000 medical 911 calls found in 19 percent of them, it took an ambulance more than seven minutes to get to the scene. Illinois Department of Public Health records show the Chicago Fire Department has committed to a response time goal of six minutes.
Five new ambulances arrived in August 2018 – more than a year Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, “We know that we need more ambulances, and it’s my expectation, when we finalize the new fire contract, there will be more on ambulances coming online.”
The mayor made that comment in December of last year. But the number of new ambulances included in the firefighters’ new contract turned out to be zero.
In a statement, the fire department said they continue to ensure the ambulance fleet meets the needs of residents – which is why the placement of the most recently-added five ambulances was carefully chosen.
thanks Asher
Excerpts from abc7chicago.com:
A Lake County business is creating custom testing and vaccination trailers for counties across the country. When COVID spiked in the U.S. the first time, they stopped making fire safety simulators and started building out mobile units for testing and eventually administering vaccines. A UV light system self-sanitizes the units.
“We’re seeing a collaboration of agencies from the public health agency, to the public safety agency, to emergency management, all working together, because no one had one solution for the problem. So, they’re able to work together and pool their resources to have an asset like the health incident trailer that allows them to then be able to do COVID testing and vaccination, use it as a point of distribution for PPE and other equipment, but also use it as an incident command down the road with health safety protocols,” said Christopher Gantz, JHB Group CEO.
Christopher Gantz is retired from the Skokie Fire Department. Eric Schildkraut is a firefighter in Elk Grove Township. Their companies work together to produce these trailers.
“Everything is technologically advanced. We can have them tune to a radio station, have a prerecorded setting so that way when people approach they’re not confused, they know where to go. We have security cameras so they can see what’s going on inside and out,” according to Eric Schildkraut, SAE Customs President.
The units run on solar power and cost between $75,000 and $100,000 dollars. One is already in use by the Catawba Indian Nation in South Carolina. Another 30 trailers in production right now will eventually go to counties across the U.S., including southern Illinois.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
The Buffalo Grove Village Board voted to approve a three-year contract with its firefighters union that includes a 2.5% increase in firefighters’ pay in the first year. Wage increases in years two and three of the contract will be negotiated separately through a wage reopener.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, which runs through April 2023, firefighters would see a 2.52% increase in compensation in the first year, while lieutenants’ pay would bump up 2.0%. A newly starting firefighter would earn $66,466, while the starting pay for a newly promoted lieutenant who also is a paramedic would be $113,900, according to the contract trustees approved Nov. 2.
The wage increases will have a $111,000 impact on the village’s budget. Beyond the pay raises, the pact adds no other costs to the village. The pact covers 51 individuals, 42 firefighter/paramedic positions and nine lieutenants.
From Tim Olk
Tim Olk photo
Nov 15
Photos by Tim Olk at the walk-out of Chicago FD Special Operations Battalion Chief Pat Maloney
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Pierce, Homer Township Fire Protection District, IL, 34772-1
Pierce composite
You are currently browsing the archives for November, 2020
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
