The Essex Fire Department in Division 7 has been added to the site. A force of 18 volunteers runs 47 square miles out of one station in Kankakee County.
Essex Fire Department Tender 1412 is a 2001 Freightliner FL80/Darley 1500/2500/20A CAFS unit. Karl Klotz photo
Esex Tender 1417 is on a 2003 Sterling Acterra. The tank builder is not clear. It has a 500-fpm pump with 2,000 gallons of water. Karl Klotz photo
May 15
More updates to the site:
MABAS Division 7:
MABAS Division 12:
MABAS Division 22: (this division is now complete on the site)
May 14
The long overdue job of updating department profiles on the site has finally begun:
MABAS Division 1:
MABAS Division 3:
MABAS Division 4:
Oct 1
Dennis McGuire, Jr. submitted images and information so that we can post the Blue Island FD to the site. Here is a preview:
- 2 stations
- Station 1: 2540 Vermont
- Station 2: Division St. & Canal St.
- 23 Full Time FFs
- 4 Part-Time FFs
- Covers: 4.16 Square miles
Blue Island Ambulance 2162 is a 2002 Ford E-450/Road Rescue Type III. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Blue Island Ambulance 2128 is a 2006 Ford E-450 (unknown body builder). Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Blue Island Engine 2103 is a 1994 Sutphen 1,500/750. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
Blue Island Engine 2123 is a 2008 HME SFO/Ahrens Fox 1,500/750. Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo
The Waukegan Fire Department has been added to the listings in MABAS Division 4. The last department in the county to be added is the largest. Waukegan has five stations with more than 28 pieces of rolling stock. All houses have an ALS rescue unit, and four run engine companies. Waukegan Station 4 staffs a 105′ Pierce quint alongside Rescue 1644.
Waukegan Squad 1651 is a 2004 Seagrave. Jeff Rudolph photo
Waukegan provides a bomb squad with containment vessel for Lake and McHenry Counties out of an annex building at Station 1. They also have a dive unit, haz mat unit, a large squad, and a 6×6 ARFF at the Waukegan Regional Airport.
Waukegan 1667 serves as the bomb squad for Lake and McHenry counties. Larry Shapiro photo
1665 is a 1984 Oshkosh T-12 6×6 1500/3140/310AFFF. Larry Shapiro photo
They have Seagrave and KME engines, a Pierce and Seagrave aerial, plus Medtec, Wheeled Coach, and Taylor Made ambulances.
Engine 1613 is a 2011 KME Severe Service 1500/750. Jeff Rudolph photo
Rescue 1643 is a 2007 Medtec on a 4300 IHC chassis. Larry Shapiro photo
The second in a series of updates to the website:
The following departments have had apparatus images updated:
The first in a series of updates to the website:
The following departments have had apparatus images updated:
The Wonder Lake Fire Protection District in McHenry County has been added to the site . Information was provided by Karl Klotz, Steve Redick, and Larry Shapiro who photographed the stations and apparatus last week.
The district encompasses 11 square miles and has two stations. The main station is staffed around the clock and the outlying station only at night. Their rosters consists of 45 part-time firefighters and paramedics.
They have three ambulances, two engines, two 3,000-gallon commercial tankers, a heavy rescue, and a brush unit. They also have three boats of their own, plus they house a pair of MABAS Division 5 boats as well. One of their engines was previously part of the McHenry Township FPD.
One of the Wonder Lake boats is this air boat by Trail Boss with an enclosed area for divers. Larry Shapiro photo
Wonder Lake Engine 1644 is X-McHenry Township Engine1244. Larry Shapiro photo
Wonder Lake FPD Squad 1631 built by Saulsbury is on a 1999 Spartan Diamond chassis. Larry Shapiro photo
Wonder Lake Tender 1671 is one of two twin 3,000-gallon tankers on matching Peterbilt 357 chassis. Karl Klotz photo
It was four years ago today that the first post was added to this blog describing the Chicagoareafire.com web site. In the first month, seven entries were made in the blog describing the first fire departments that were uploaded to the site.
Here are a few stats from the fourth anniversary:
The staff would like to thank all of the contributors, photographers, and visitors for continually increasing the content and items of interest that have allowed the site to grow.
Thank you.
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For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
Note to blog users …
Apr 3
Posted by Admin in Site News | 10 Comments
It appears that the time has come to set some ground rules and discuss some policies for this blog.
We have a fairly strong readership, and many satisfied readers. We have a large group of responsible and dedicated contributors who are the backbone for the content found on this site.
So, let’s talk about making comments. An open forum is healthy. It can be both fun and informative. It can also be hurtful and vengeful. As the webmaster, some time ago I made the conscious decision to unlock the review period for those posting comments. It became too cumbersome to preview all posts prior to approving them, and it often introduced lengthy delays from when the comment was made and when it was posted.
Most comments are fine, but recently we’ve had some critiquing that went further than this blog may have ever intended to have happen. It’s an evolving process that requires periodic review.
Several readers have in the past tried to offer their interpretation of what this blog should be, by asking others to keep their critiques and criticisms to a minimum on this forum. As the webmaster, I try to remain neutral and let the forum run on it’s own.
I think that I speak (I’m presuming that I do) for the majority of readers when I say that we’d rather have the continued support and submissions from our regular contributors, than the occasional armchair quarterbacking from a small group of anonymous readers. In the years that this site has been up, I can probably count on one hand the number of comments that I’ve stopped from being posted due to what I felt was inappropriate. These comments came from totally anonymous sources. It’s not about censorship or free speech, both of which I am always conscious of, and I support. It’s about common courtesy and common sense.
We can’t blame the messenger for conveying something that may not be perfect, safe, according to NFPA, department protocol, or common sense. That responsibility belongs with the message itself. That being said, this is not our goal. We all understand that we live in a time where instant notification of events with images provides access to many where previously something may have only been seen by a few.
So, if you’ve got something to say, stop and think about it before you hit send. If you really feel strongly about an issue, then back it up by providing your name like so many of our readers do.
As the webmaster, I will take it upon myself in the future to withdraw something that may incite negativity that is not appropriate for this forum. It’s clearly a judgement call on my part, but that will be the direction for now. Again, the blog is a fluid environment that is constantly changing.
Should you wish to engage in critiquing the minutia found in an image, there is another very popular site which is largely dedicated to doing just that.
I welcome your comments and thoughts, and I thank you for visiting this site. Additionally, I wish to extend my apologies to those who bore the brunt of this insensitivity, as this was never the intent of this site.
Tags: Chicagoareafire.com policy, notice to blog users, posting comments