Posts Tagged Palwaukee Airport

Airport fire training

Jun 17

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

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.

Chicago Fire Department O'Hare firefighting

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.

Tags: ARFF training, CFD O'Hare Airport firefighting, Champaign Fire Department airport firefighting, Chicago Executive Airport, E-ONE Titan, Larry Shapiro, Oshkosh, Palwaukee Airport, Prospect Heights Fire Department, Wheeling Fire Department

Plane slides of runway at Chicago Executive

Feb 21

Posted by bgshap in plane crash | Comments off

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.

Tags: Chicago Executive Airport, Palwaukee Airport, Prospect Heights Fire Department, Wheeling Fire Department

Fatal plane crash in Wheeling

Dec 22

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Fire, Fire Department News | 3 Comments

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.