Tim Olk was in Grayslake yesterday as divers searched for a missing boater and submitted a few images from the scene.
Grayslake Fire Dept 4th Alarm Side Scan Sonar Box And 3rd Alarm Divers Box Gages Lake
Divers and several boats search for a missing man in Grayslake. Tim Olk photo
Multiple fire department dive teams assembled to assist the Grayslake Fire Department. Tim Olk photo
Divers enter the search area from a boat. Tim Olk photo
Gurnee has two units due late this summer:
Grayslake has one unit coming this summer:
The Chicago Tribune reported that:
Divers pulled a body from Gages Lake at about 3:20 p.m. in the area where they had been looking for a swimmer who had gone missing late Monday night, an official said.
John Christian, chief of Grayslake Fire Protection District, said the body was found in the middle of the lake in about 40 feet of water – the same area where crews had been using sonar throughout the day looking for the missing man.
Lake County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Sgt. Karen Kates said the missing man was 44, and lived in Lake County. But authorities have not identified the body as that of the man they had been searching for.
Crews were used sonar this morning to search Gages Lake in unincorporated Grayslake for signs of a man who jumped off a pontoon boat Monday night and has not been seen since, Christian said.
A man swam up to a resident who lives on the lake at about 9:30 p.m. Monday and said he was looking for a friend of his, Christian said. Rescue crews searched the surface of the lake until about midnight. Authorities also confirmed that it does not appear the missing man swam to another shore of the lake. The search resumed at about 5:30 a.m. with sonar.
“It appears they were swimming off the boat and the boat got away from them,” Christian said.
The complete article and video footage is HERE.
Thanks Chris
May 17
The Daily Herald has an article about the opening of Grayslake Fire Protection District Station 3.
Grayslake Fire Protection District has opened a new station designed to improve response times to the Saddlebrook Farms development in Round Lake Park and nearby areas.
Built at Peterson Road and Route 60, the district’s third firehouse debuted at 7 a.m. Monday. It’ll be staffed 24 hours a day with three firefighter/paramedics.
Funding for the third station was approved in a 2008 tax-increase referendum. An owner of a $200,000 market value home was projected to pay an extra $100 annually to the fire district.
About $2.2 million was budgeted for the 10,000-square-foot firehouse in unincorporated Lake County. It’s a single-story structure with equipment and truck areas, firefighter dormitory rooms and offices.
The fire district doesn’t include only the namesake village. Third Lake, Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach and unincorporated Lake County areas of Wildwood, Gages Lake, Highland Lake and Fremont Township also are within its boundaries.
The complete article can be found HERE.
thanks Chris
RED Center, who dispatches for the Prospect Heights Fire Department, received a call around 4PM this afternoon reporting a large brush fire in the Potawatami Woods Forest Preserve off Portwine Road in the Prospect Heights Fire District. They dispatched the call as an upgraded working fire based on the caller telling them that an area roughly the size of a football field was involved.
Long Grove Brush 55 was the first unit able to make it back into the area that was burning. Larry Shapiro photo
The first units reported a header and found a significant fire in the forest preserve. They realized that the fire covered a vast area and would require more manpower than what was on the initial response. Firefighters from Prospect Heights, Wheeling, and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods walked back into the woods with a brush rig from Long Grove. Much of the ground was soft which resulted in several vehicles becoming stuck during the operation.
Prospect Heights firefighters use hand tools to try and extinguish the fire at the edge of the burn area. Larry Shapiro photo
Flames flared up along the burn area faster than the hand crews could get to them. Larry Shapiro photo
Long Grove Brush 55 was used to supply handlines. Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro was at the scene and submitted several images. Tim Olk was also at the scene. His images will be in a subsequent post.
An officer from Long Grove is deploying a wildland progressive hose pack. Larry Shapiro photo
As the fire got hold of larger fuel loads, large flare-ups appeared until the fuel load was consumed. Larry Shapiro photo
The alarm was elevated to a MABAS Brush Fire Box Alarm which brought additional companies including water tenders, brush units, and engines from the Countryside Fire District, Buffalo Grove, Grayslake, Elk Grove Township, and Fox River Grove.
Tall grasses ignited and created thick black smoke and intense heat. Larry Shapiro photo
As the wind carried the fire into the tall grasses, high flames produced intense heat and thick black smoke that cold be seen for miles.
A firefighter waits for a 1" wildland hoseline to be charged. Larry Shapiro photo
Water is deployed as the tall grasses are fully involved on the south end of the site. Larry Shapiro photo
Another line is stretched into position. Larry Shapiro photo
Complicating matters for dispatchers was that simultaneously the Barrington Fire Department had a large brush fire at the box alarm level which called for some of the same companies that would have been due into Prospect Heights.
A handline is deployed along the edge of the burn area. Larry Shapiro photo
Firefighters stretch a line from the Countryside FPD Tanker 411 which was brought to the burn area and used to nurse Long Grove Brush 55. Larry Shapiro photo
An image showing the burn area after the fires were contained. Larry Shapiro photo
No injuries were reported at the scene and as the fire was contained, the Cook County Forest Preserve Conservation Team (wildland firefighters) arrived to complete the mop-up.
More images can be found HERE and HERE.
Larry Shapiro will provide a video from the fire when it is assembled.
Grayslake Fire Commissioner Greg Koeppen tells us that construction for Station #3 on Peterson Road has begun. He submitted photos of the site as of October , 2011.
Construction has begun for Station #3 at 22405 Peterson Road in Grayslake. Greg Koeppen photo
Another view of the construction site. Greg Koeppen photo
Foundation for Grayslake Station #3. Greg Koeppen photo
The Grayslake Fire Protection District in MABAS Division 4 had a ground breaking ceremony this week at the site of what will be their Station 3 at 22405 Peterson Road and Route 60.
Construction of the new 10,600-square-foot station is scheduled to begin in March and be completed by September 2011.
Having the new fire station be located in the far southern portion of the district will significantly shorten response times …
Responding from Fire Station 1 in downtown Grayslake, or Fire Station 2 near the College of Lake County, can be hampered by train crossings and distance.
The third fire station is a response to Grayslake’s growth in recent years, he said in a statement.
The complete article can be found HERE from the Grayslake Patch.
Another photographic gallery representing the current and past fleet of a department has been added. The Grayslake Fire Department in Lake County has a historic gallery featuring 28 images from Bill Friedrich and Larry Shapiro.
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
