Posts Tagged Lake County

New (used) heavy rescue with crane for Newport FPD

Jan 16

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Fire Department News, New Apparatus Order | 7 Comments

Bill Friedrich informs us that the Newport FPD in Lake County has purchased a 1985 Mack MR/Saulsbury, walk-in, heavy rescue with a mid-ship mounted, 8-ton, 33-foot, National Crane from the Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company in Baltimore County, MD. The unit is not yet in Illinois, but reportedly will be soon. Lutherville’s apparatus are painted white with gold striping and a black band along the bottom. Lutherville replaced this squad in 2008 with a Pierce Velocity, tandem axle, walk-around, heavy rescue with a 10-ton National Crane.

Lutherville Vol Fire Company Squad 303 Mack MC Saulsbury National Crane

The Lutherville Vol Fire Company in Baltimore County, MD ran this 1985 Mack MR/Saulsbury heavy rescue as Squad 303 until it was replaced in 2008. Larry Shapiro photo

Lutherville Vol Fire Company Squad 303 in action

Lutherville Squad 303 demonstrates the capability of the crane to stabilize or lift a vehicle to assist with an extrication. Larry Shapiro photo from the book Cranes in Action, MBI Publishing

Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company MD Pierce Velocity heavy rescue National Crane

The Lutherville Vol Fire Co in Baltimore County MD put this Pierce Velocity heavy rescue into service in 2008. Squad 303 has a mid-ship mounted 10-ton National Crane. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: Baltimore County, Bill Friedrich, heavy rescue, Lake County, Larry Shapiro, Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company, MABAS Division 4, Mack MR, Maryland, National Crane, Newport Township FPD, Pierce, Saulsbury, Velocity, walk-around rescue, walk-in rescue

Lake Zurich has been added to the site

Nov 30

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing, Patch | 1 Comment

Lake Zurich has now been added to the departments in MABAS Division 4. They have four stations of which one is in Deer Park and another is in North Barrington. This is a 100% Pierce department for suppression apparatus with four Saber engines, a Dash tower ladder, and a squad with a commercial IHC 4400 chassis. The ambulances are a mixture of Road Rescue and Medtec Type I units on IHC chassis.

The four engines are virtually identical though they span being built between 1997-2002. All but one carry 1,000 gallons of water and have foam tanks. The downtown engine has 750 gallons of water on board.

Lake Zurich Fire Department IHC Pierce squad

Lake Zurich Fire Department Road Rescue ambulance

Lake Zurich Fire Station 4 is located at 21970 Field Parkway in Deer Park. This two-bay house is similar to the other outlying stations. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: Dash, IHC, Lake County, Lake Zurich Fire Department, Larry Shapiro, MABAS Division 4, MedTec, patch, Pierce, Road Rescue, Saber, Type I

Gurnee is on the site

Nov 3

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing, Patch | Comments off

Fire departments in Lake County, MABAS Division 4, continue to be added to the site. The Gurnee Fire Department is now the latest to be posted. They have two stations covering 33 square miles which includes the Six Flags Great America amusement park and Gurnee Mills, an enormous outlet mall. The Gurnee suppression fleet is made up entirely of E-ONE apparatus and currently all four of their ambulances are Type I models from Road Rescue on IHC 4700 or IHC 4300 series’ chassis. A new Type I ambulance is presently on order from Wheeled Coach.

Gurnee also houses some specialty MABAS assets. They store an interesting 1991 Mack/Volvo roll-off chassis which is used to transport metal storage containers which contain equipment and supplies for MABAS Divisions 4&5. One container is for the Technical Rescue Team (TRT) with tools and lumber and the other is for the Wildland Task Force which carries, among other things, an ATV.

Gurnee Fire Department headquarters Station 1 on Old Grand Avenue. Larry Shapiro photo

An interesting note about the E-ONE apparatus is the wide range of chassis and cab styles that are represented.

Gurnee Fire Department E-ONE Cyclone II engine

This engine features the newest version of the Cyclone II which is a tilt-cab.

Gurnee Fire Department EONE Cyclone engine

This 1995 engine uses the early Cyclone chassis with a fixed cab.

Gurnee also has two engines with a Cyclone tilt-cab with a previous grille design. The tower ladder is built on a Hurricane chassis which has a fixed cab.

Gurnee Fire Department E-ONE Hurricane 95' tower ladder

In 1998 when Gurnee received their new E-ONE tower ladder, they arranged to have the unit photographed with one of the main town attractions. At that time, Gurnee Mills was billed as the largest outlet mall in the country. Planet Hollywood was one of the anchor restaurants at the mall. Larry Shapiro collection

Gurnee Squad 1352 was ordered with a four-door Sentry cab and a vista roof. The Sentry is distinguishable by the straight, non-contoured door line of the driver's door. The vista roof was a raised roof that E-ONE offered without full height rear doors. This photo was taken inside Six Flags Great America when the squad was delivered. The graphics are no longer representative of how the squad looks today. Larry Shapiro collection

Tags: Cyclone, Cyclone II, E-ONE, fixed cab, Gurnee, Gurnee Mills, Hurricane, IHC, Lake County, MABAS Division 4, patch, Road Rescue, Sentry, Shapiro, Six Flags Great America, tilt-cab, tower ladder

Gurnee ambulance

Oct 30

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Apparatus Order | Comments off

The Gurnee Fire Department in Division 4 (Lake County) has ordered a new ambulance. They are expecting delivery of a 2010, IHC 4300/Wheeled Coach, Type I unit in December. This will replace their Ambulance 1343 which is a 1998, IHC 4700 LoProfile, Road Rescue Type I unit.

Tags: Division 4, Gurnee, IHC 4300, IHC 4700, Lake County, Road Rescue, Wheeled Coach

Beach Park Fire Department is on the site

Oct 27

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Fire Station, New Listing | Comments off

Beach Park Fire Protection District decal

Another Lake County, MABAS Division 4 department has been added to the site. Formerly known as the Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District, The Beach Park Fire Department covers roughly 14 square miles in northeast Lake County which includes unincorporated areas of the county as well as Beach Park. They do not though currently provide coverage for the entire town of Beach Park as the Winthrop Harbor Fire Department has responsibility for a portion of the town.

According to the Beach Park Village Link Newsletter in the winter of 2003:

The New Beach Park Fire Department

In the last months of 2002, there were plenty of positive changes in the fire protection services for our village. Formerly known as the “Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District”, the name was officially changed to the “Beach Park Fire Department” (BPFD) last November to better define the department’s capabilities and service areas.

Beach Park has a mixture of apparatus in the fleet including Alexis, Pierce, Seagrave, Medtec, and Osage. The newest rig is Engine 1222 which is a 2008 Seagrave Maurauder II engine. Currently, Beach Park Engine 1212, a 2002 HME/Alexis engine is undergoing work at Alexis Fire Apparatus.

Beach Park Fire Protection District Seagrave Maurauder II engine

Beach Park Fire Protection District Pierce Saber engine

Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District Pierce Saber pumper

Engine 1211 prior to the creation of the Beach Park FD was lettered for the Bonnie Brook FPD. Larry Shapiro photo

Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District Pierce Saber engine

Bonnie Brook FPD Engine 1211 shortly after being delivered by Pierce in 1993. Larry Shapiro collection

In recent Beach Park FD news, they have opened a second station at 13110 W. Major Avenue in Beach Park. This interesting station originated as an existing house with an attached garage. The garage was modified as a lobby and office area and a two-bay addition was then added for the apparatus. At the present time, this station has a crew of two or three which are a jump company, staffing either the engine or ambulance based on the nature of a request for service.

Beach Park Fire Protection District Station 2

Beach Park Station 2 at 13110 W. Major Avenue opened in April of 2010. Larry Shapiro photo

Beach Park Fire Protect District Station 2

Beach Park Fire Department Station 2

Tags: Alexis, Beach Park, Bonnie Brook, decal, HME, Lake County, MABAS Division 4, Maurauder II, MedTec, new station, Osage, Pierce, Saber, Seagrave, Winthrop Harbor

North Chicago is on the site

Oct 25

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Delivery, New Listing, Patch | Comments off

In northern Lake County, the North Chicago Fire Department runs a fleet of Pierce and Medtec units out of two stations. Their 8 square mile district borders the Great Lakes Naval Training Center on two sides. Their newest piece of apparatus is an 85′ tower ladder from Pierce which replaced a 1977 Hendrickson 1871-S/Pierce/LTI 85′ tower ladder. North Chicago is expecting another new Pierce in January. This will be a Pierce custom Contender engine to replace a 1986 Pierce Dash engine with open jump seats.

North Chicago Fire Department Hendrickson Pierce LTI 85' tower ladder

North Chicago's 1977 Hendrickson 1871-S/Pierce/LTI 85' tower ladder which was disposed of recently with the arrival of the new tower ladder. Larry Shapiro collection

North Chicago Fire Department Pierce Arrow XT 85' tower ladder

At North Chicago Station 2 on Buckley Road is their newest ambulance. Purchased in 2009, this was a Medtec demonstrator that was built in 2002. It arrived with blue decals which was the design that Medtec had created so the unit would appeal to a traditional rescue squad. The blue was subsequently removed and replaced with red graphics. This explains why this ambulance design is different looking than the other North Chicago ambulances.

North Chicago Fire Department Ford Medtec Type III ambulance demonstrator

Prior to changing the graphics on this 2002 Medtec demonstrator that North Chicago purchased in 2009, it was in service for a short time with the blue graphics seen here. This photo was taken on-scene at a 2nd alarm fire response in Libertyville in July of 2009 shortly after the new ambulance was delivered. Larry Shapiro photo

North Chicago Fire Department Ford Medtec Type III ambulance

The ambulance with updated red graphics.

Tags: 85', Arrow XT, Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Hendrickson, Lake County, LT, MedTec, North Chicago, patch, Pierce, Shapiro, tower ladder

New order for North Chicago

Oct 23

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Apparatus Order | 1 Comment

The North Chicago Fire Department in Lake County is expecting delivery of a new engine this coming January. Evidently we missed announcing the order previously. They have a Pierce Custom Contender engine on order that will feature a 1,500-GPM pump with a water tank for 1,000 gallons in addition to a 30-gallon foam tank. Similar to their 2009 Pierce tower ladder, the new engine will be painted black over red. When this unit goes into service, they will dispose of Engine 1514 which is a 1986 Pierce Dash.

Tags: Contender, Dash, Lake County, North Chicago, Pierce

Lake Villa is on the site

Oct 18

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing, Patch | Comments off

Another Lake County (Division 4) department has been added to the site. The Lake Villa Fire Department/Lake Villa Fire District/Lake Villa Rescue Squad is an interesting marriage of resources and organizations. Together, they currently occupy three fire stations in Lake Villa and Lindenhurst. The downtown station and most of the apparatus assigned there is owned by the Lake Villa Fire Department which is a private organization. They do their own fundraising in addition to being paid for contract services from the Lake Villa Fire District. The other two stations and the fire vehicles in them are owned by the Lake Villa Fire District. The ambulances in all three stations which are white and blue, are owned and staffed by the Lake Villa Rescue Squad.

The Lake Villa Fire Department station which has been expanded three times since the original building was constructed. Photo by Hank Sajovic

The Lake Villa Fire Department station in downtown Lake Villa is an interesting building which has had three separate additions built over the years. The building now has eight bays. Each two bay addition has an engraved stone with the year of that particular addition.

Lake Villa Fire Department Engine 241 Pierce Arrow XT

All of the fire suppression equipment with the exception of a 1973 CF-Mack/Welch was made by Pierce. This includes four engines, a pumper/squad, a 105′ ladder, and two tankers of which all but one are on Dash chassis. The newest piece is a 2009, Arrow XT engine at station 1.

Lake Villa Rescue Squad Ford Osage Type III ambulance

The rescue squad currently has five Ford/Osage Type III ambulances which are painted in the traditional rescue squad color scheme of blue and white. As mentioned in a previous post HERE, there are two new ambulances on order and they will be red, and lettered for the Lake Villa Fire District as are the current units.

The Mack/Pierce engine shortly after it was purchased. It was Engine 2420 at the time, was purchased by the FIre Department and did not have the Wil-Burt Nightscan mounted on the roof. Lake Villa had been a Mack customer for many years. When Mack stopped building fire trucks, many of its customers continued to buy the CF chassis with other companies completing the unit. Lake Villa's transition to Pierce began with this unit. By the time they were ready to purchase their next vehicle, Mack was no longer offering the CF chassis. Photo by Larry Shapiro

This engine from Annandale, NJ is an example of a four-door fabricated by Mack. The rear doors are recessed, flat, and cover the step. The engine was originally built in 1981 and was updated and refurbished in 1996 by The Swab Wagon Company. Larry Shapiro photo

There are three rather uniquely interesting units on the roster in Lake Villa. One is a 1933 Pirsch antique that’s in great shape. The other two units are a throw back to a time when all of the Lake Villa engines were built by Mack on CF chassis. They have a 1973 CF-Mack that was refurbished with a new body complete with high-side compartments by Welch, and the other is a 1989/1990 CF-Mack/Pierce combination. One trait which makes this unit especially nice is the four-door conversion which was fabricated by Pierce. When Mack enclosed the CF cab with four doors, the rear doors were flat, straight, and set in from the contour of the body by several inches. Pierce fabricated the enclosure using a set of front doors for the rear of the cab which kept the same contours and body lines of the cab from the front to the rear.

Lake Villa Fire Department 1933 Pirsch antique

Lake Villa Fire Department 1968 Mack CF engine

This is one of the CF Mack engines that preceded the Pierce units in Lake Villa. Engine 621 as shown here was built in 1969 and carried 750 gallons of water with a 1,000-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: Annandale, antique, Arrow XT, Dash, Division 4, Ford, Lake County, Lake Villa Fire Department, Lake Villa Fire District, Lake Villa Rescue Squad, Mack CF, NJ, Osage, patch, Pierce, Pirsch, Sajovic, Shapiro, Swab, Welch

Unique Station 2 for Newport Township

Oct 16

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Fire Department News | Comments off

In Wadsworth, IL on the north end of Lake County, the Newport Township Fire Protection District covers 33 square miles with one main station off of Wadsworth Road just east of US 41. This station is packed full with a tanker, two engines, a pumper squad, two ambulances, a utility, staff car, ATV, and brush unit. In order to provide better response times to the northern edge of their district, the FPD rents a portion of a barn on the property of Doug Reno, who is one of their members.

The Newport Township FPD rents out this portion of a building on the property of Doug Reno at 42874 Delaney Road in Zion. Larry Shapiro photo

Newport Township Fire Protection District auxilary building

The crane truck is stored in this building on a neighbor's farm. Larry Shapiro photo

Doug is also a collector of fire engines in his own right and has several pieces of equipment of his own housed there and on yet another neighbor’s property with additional Newport apparatus. First things first though, the Newport apparatus includes …

Newport Township FPD Mack engine 141 X-Ligonier, PA

Newport Township FPD Mack engine drafting from Lake Michigan in Winthrop Harbor

In the winter of 2008 at a 4-11 alarm fire in Winthrop Harbor, Engine 1413 drafted for the better part of a day out of Lake Mighigan. Larry Shapiro photo

Newport Township FPD Mack engine drafting from Lake Michigan at a Winthrop Harbor fire

Here's another view of the drafting operation with the fire in the background. That's Doug Reno trying to keep warm in the cab of the engine. Larry Shapiro photo

A 1977 CF Mack engine that carries 4,000 feet of 4″ hose. Unlike the other Newport rigs, this one has a black roof on the cab. It previously saw service in Ligonier, PA and was purchased through the generosity of two department members.
A 1951 Willy’s Jeep parade piece with a 100-GPM front mounted pump and a 150-gallon water tank
A decommissioned and beautifully restored, 1969 Dodge Power Wagon W-300 which used to be the department’s brush rig
A 1981 R-Model Mack box truck ‘Heavy Rescue’ unit which carries TRT supplies
A 1988 R-Model Mack flatbed with a 6,000# knuckle boom crane which carries a trench box or, when it acts as a foam tender for the Quad 2 ARFF unit, it carries bulk foam

Doug’s collection includes:

Wadsworth OH Ward LaFrance Ambassador engine

This engine is owned by Doug Reno ... just outside of Wadsworth, IL. The engine is from Wadsworth, OH. There is no Wadsworth Fire Department in Illinois as the town is covered by the Newport Fire Protection District. Larry Shapiro photo

A 1975 Ward LaFrance Ambassador engine labeled for the Wadsworth Fire Department (OH) with a 1,250-GPM pump and 500-gallon water tank sn 80-1129
A 1971 CF Mack engine that was refurbished in 1987 by Pierce for the Geneva, IL Fire Department in Kane County
A CF Mack engine from Duncannon, PA

Personal fire truck collection of Doug Reno

These are two of Doug's engines. They're stored in one end of the building which also houses Newport's crane truck 1455. Larry Shapiro photo

Geneva, IL Fire Department Mack CF Pierce engine

Geneva, IL (Kane County) had this 1971 Mack CF656 1000-GPM pumper refurbished by Pierce in 1987. Larry Shapiro photo

The Geneva Mack/Pierce engine today as part of Doug Reno's collection. Larry Shapiro photo

Tags: crane, Dodge, Doug Reno, Duncannon PA, Geneva, Jeep, Lake County, Ligonier, Mack CF, Mack R, Newport Township FPD, PA, Pierce, Power Wagon, R-Model, Shapiro, TRT, Wadsworth, Ward LaFrance, Willy

Newport Township FPD has been added to the site

Oct 16

Posted by bgshap in New Listing, Patch | 2 Comments

The Newport Township Fire Protection District in Wadsworth (Lake County MABAS Division 4) is now represented on the site. They operate out of two stations and their district runs all the way to the Wisconsin border. This department has three engines, a pumper squad, an elliptical tanker, two ambulances, a brush rig, an ATV on tracks, and two 1980s R-Model Mack trucks that are assigned as TRT support units.