Firefighters from the Prospect Heights FPD and the Wheeling FD trained together for aircraft rescue and firefighting at the Chicago Executive Airport
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Posts Tagged Chicago Executive Airport
Airport fire training
Jun 17
Prospect Heights Fire Department Crash Truck 39. Photo by Larry Shapiro
Prospect Heights and Wheeling firefighters went to O’Hare Airport on Thursday to train with the aircraft props. Both fire departments share responsibility for the firefighting operations at the Chicago Executive Airport (formerly Palwaukee Airport) which resides in both their districts. Both Wheeling Crash Truck 23 and Prospect Height Crash Truck 39 were taken to the airport. Firefighters practiced with handlines for engine fires, brake fires, and full-scale aircraft fires. Then they deployed both ARFF units to attack a simulated crash.
CFD ARFF 657R is deployed by firefighters from Champaign. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters from Champaign were also at the training site today and did three evolutions using 657R, a CFD reserve Oshkosh T-3000.
Larry Shapiro was invited to the training and took several hundred photos in addition to a video.
Crash Truck 39 attacks the pit fire. Larry Shapiro Photo
Wheeling Crash Truck 23 moves in to knock down the pit fire. Larry Shapiro photo
Wheeling firefighters advance a hand line. Larry Shapiro photo
Prospect Heights firefighters work on an engine fire alongside brakes that are burning. Larry Shapiro photo
Larry has a gallery with over 250 images HERE.
Wheeling and Prospect Heights Fire Departments responded to a plane that slid off the end of the runway and Chicago Executive Airport this evening. The plane had one wheel off into the dirt and was leaking fuel. The pilot was uninjured.
The Chicago Tribune has a brief article HERE.
This occurred just after 8PM when road surfaces froze due to the drop in temperature. Multiple vehicle accidents within the same hour kept these and other area fire departments busy.
updated 12AM below
Shortly before 3PM this afternoon, a plane that had just taken off from the Chicago Executive Airport (Palwaukee) reported engine problems and initiated a turn which would allow them to return to the airport. The plane lost altitude and clipped a building at 760 S. Wolf Road before crashing into the rear parking lot and hitting two cars. There were two souls on-board the plane. One of the occupants died in the crash and the other, who survived, was found on the ground roughly 30 feet from the plane by the first arriving emergency personnel. He was apparently suffering from burns and multiple fractures. The survivor was packaged quickly and transferred to a Flight-For-Life medical transport helicopter and flown to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. A comprehensive article about the incident can be found HERE. Both the Wheeling Fire Department and Prospect Heights Fire Department provide protection for the airport and as such the two departments are jointly dispatched to airport related incidents. Wheeling Engine 23 was the first fire suppression unit on the scene. Firefighters used hand lines off Engine 23 plus foam from Prospect Heights Crash Truck 39.
Larry Shapiro was at the scene and has a gallery with 100 images HERE.
The plane hit one car on impact and the resulting fire damaged several others. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters advance a foam line on the crash after the bulk of fire was knocked down by the ARFF. Larry Shapiro photo
The small plane hit several cars in the parking lot in an industrial park just northwest of the Chicago Executive Airport. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters douse the smoldering wreckage of a single engine plane that crashed in Wheeling, IL. Larry Shapiro photo
Wheeling Engine 23 and Prospect Heights Crash Truck 39 handled the suppression of the fire. Larry Shapiro photo
Paramedics transfer care of the patient to the Flight For Life helicopter crew to transport the patient to a trauma center. Larry Shapiro photo
The patient is loaded into the helicopter for the trip to the trauma center. Larry Shapiro photo
Part of the debris field is visible along the path the plane took just prior to impact. Larry Shapiro photo
One individual perished in the crash and another survived. Larry Shapiro photo
update 12AM a short cell phone video prior to the fire department arrival can be seen HERE
