Still & Box Alarm fire in a Red-X building on Sunday morning (6/28/15) at 7038 S. Sangamon.
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Chicago Still & Box Alarm fire – June 28, 2015
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Never knew the CFD uses the SCBA covers (the guy on the 3rd photo from the bottom). Do they use this to identify the RIT team members?
Hello David. The SCBA cover identifies the Safety Officer. It is part of the “Red X” building response. The building has been pre-determined to have structural issues and a Safety Officer is assigned with the sole job of watching the structural integrity of the building during operations. A lot of the time these jobs are completely defensive but there are also many times that a Safety Officer will allow an interior attack if he feels one is safe.
Eric, thank you much for the info! So if I understand it well, the Safety officer is assigned only to fires in the Red X buildings and in other cases he’s back at the house, or he goes on every fire?! I’m not a FF myself and I happen to live in Czech Republic, so for me as a CFD fan is sometimes difficult to stay in the picture. Eric thanks much again & also I really enjoy your posts here and in the Chicagoareafire, keep up the great work!
No problem David. One more thing. The Safety Officer is a regular on-duty Battalion Chief. Depending on where the fire is, the S.O. changes. There is not just one who is on duty all the time, but a Battalion Chief is chosen out of the 24 available once it is determined an S.O. is needed based on the incident location. When the incident is over, they go back to being a B.C. in their own part of the city.
Ok, so every BC on duty now also acts like a Safety Officer when there’s a fire in a Red X building in his district. Eric, thanks again!