Many area fire chiefs and other officers attended the open house at the MABAS Readiness Center in Wheeling on Friday. There were several presenters who discussed different topics. Larry Shapiro photo

Congressman Peter Roskam addressed the fire service personnel. Larry Shapiro photo

The readiness center is packed full of various unique support units like this Mobile Field Office with slide-out sides to increase the interior working space. This is one of three such units. It is designated as MSU-North or Mission Support Unit for the north region. Larry Shapiro photo

A sign describes the Mission Support Unit. Larry Shapiro photo

The newest addition to the MABAS specialized units is this 8×8 Oshkosh P-15 that was surplussed from the Air Force. It is one of the largest crash trucks ever built and carries 6,000 gallons of water and 600 gallons of AFFF. It has two 1,500-GPM pumps and two turrets rated at 1,250-GPM each. The unit is not currently in service and the exact nature of it’s anticipated use has not yet been outlined. Larry Shapiro photo

The warehouse is also home to Illinois Task Force 1 (ILTF-1), the state US&R team. “IL-US&R TF-1 is an asset of MABAS-IL and serves as the State of Illinois’ Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Taskforce #1.” One side of the facility houses the resources for this team. Larry Shapiro photo

The newest addition to the mobile equipment for the US&R team is this flatbed roll-off for lumber. Larry Shapiro photo