This from Steve Redick:
I want to share something of historical significance. This is a tape recorded interview with Bill Bingham in 1976. “Coach” was a senior fire alarm operator and one of the many bosses I was fortunate to work for. He was a fire telephone operator in the office the day of the tragic Our Lady of Angels school fire. In this interview Bill recounts his memories of that terrible day. It provides a lot of insight into the CFD and its operations as well as the fire itself.
#1 by Bill Post on October 17, 2025 - 10:13 AM
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This is just a slight correction. At the the time of the Our Lady of Angels school fire I was living on Avers (the same street that the fire was on)3 however the School was 5 mile south of where I lived. I was actually 5 miles north of the fire.
#2 by Bill Post on October 16, 2025 - 1:03 AM
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Thanks for putting that interview on the site Steve.
Who was doing the interview?It is hard to believe that the Interview is 49 years old? Very interesting.
Another thing that Bill didn’t mention was the Old Salvage Fire Patrols which I know you know about as your Grandfather was on the Fire Patrol.
The first fire station I was ever in was Patrol 7 at Fullerton and Albany and my first school was just behind their Old House. The following year (1959)the Patrol was closed down. When the Lady of Angels fire struck I was no longer in Logan Square but I was living in Albany Park ironically on Avers avenue about 5 miles south of the fire.