Wheeling (IL) firefighters responding for a report of smoke in an apartment found the outdoor electric box engulfed in flames on arrival. The call to 950 Lexington Court came in just after 3AM 1/3/18. As firefighters awaited the arrival of Com Ed, they stretched lines and evacuated the building. Approximately one hour on the scene, the box was de-energized. Water and then foam was used to extinguish the remaining fire. Power was rerouted and restored to the building allowing residents then back into their apartments.
Bensenville (IL) firefighters responded to an automatic fire alarm on the morning of 11/19/17 around 6:15AM at 361 Marshall Road. Within minutes they received multiple calls reporting fire in the building. Arriving police officers advised flames from the window of a third floor unit.
Flames swept through the mansard roof and into the attic. The alarm was upgraded to a Box Alarm and later a 2nd Alarm was struck. After the fire jumped a fire wall, the fire was upgraded to a 3rd Alarm . Elevated master streams from Bensenville Truck 107, Leyden Quint 133, and Chicago Squad 7A were deployed in addition to several large hand lines after companies were pulled out of the building. One resident was unaccounted for and later discovered deceased as companies went inside to overhaul.
Rochester (NY) firefighters had fire in a commercial laundry at 548 St Paul in the late afternoon of 7/19/17. The fire went to 3-alarms due to the smoke conditions and the difficulty of locating the seat of the fire in the large, maze-like building.
I was in the neighborhood when Chciago’s 7th Battalion pulled up on a working fire in a three-story, brick apartment building at 3111 W. Diversey Avenue. They had rear porches going with extension to a two-story house on Troy behind the fire building. He asked for a Box Alarm and companies made quick work of knocking down the fire. I arrived before the Box Alarm companies to find crews washing down hotspots.
Long Grove (IL) firefighters were sent to 4745 Wellington Drive Monday morning before 5:30 for a reported house fire. Based on phone calls received, dispatchers at RED Center upgraded the Code 3 response to a Code 4 for the working fire while units were en route. Long Grove Squad 55 arrived and reported visible fire and initiation of a transitional attack. The fire at the roof’s peak above a two-story front foyer was knocked down quickly. Companies remained on the scene doing extensive overhaul and salvage work.
Water supply was secured through the use of tankers that were nursing Long Grove Squad 55. A partial list of units at the scene included Long Grove Squad, Tanker, and Ambulance 55, 5500, 5501, 5502; Buffalo Grove Quint 27 and Battalion 4; Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Truck and Battalion 51; Arlington Heights Engine and Ambulance 4; Wheeling Engine 23; Countryside Tanker 411; Prospect Heights Tanker and Ambulance 9; plus tankers from Palatine Rural, Barrington Countryside, and Wauconda; Lake Zurich Engine 4 and 3203; Libertyville Quint 462; Barrington Ambulance 361; Deerfield-Bannockburn Squad 19; and Palatine Engine 81.
Buffalo Grove (IL) firefighters were called to 685 Le Parc Circle late Tuesday afternoon (6/20/17) after a homeowner was alerted on his phone of excessive heat. The Code 2 for the alarm investigation was elevated to a Code 3 for the reported fire after receiving an update from the homeowner who arrived home and found smoke in the unit.
Buffalo Grove (BG) Battalion 4 arrived to find light smoke around the eaves and upgraded to a Code 4 for the working fire. BG companies went to the roof and inside the unit while mutual aid crews investigated the adjoining units. Heavy smoke conditions inside initially hampered locating the seat of the attic fire and a fear of extension throughout the multiple unit building prompted further upgrading the alarm to a MABAS Box Alarm.
Companies at the scene were: Buffalo Grove Battalion 4, Engine 26, Quints 25 and 27, Squad 25, Ambulances 25 and 26, plus three additional chief officers. Mutual aid companies were: Arlington Heights Engine 4, Ambulance 4, and 400; Long Grove Squad 55 and 5500; Palatine Engine 82; Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Squad 51; Wheeling Engine 42 and 2400; ambulances from Barrington Countryside, Lake Zurich, Schaumburg, and Lake Villa; a Libertyville squad, a Countryside engine, trucks from Mundelein and Grayslake (in a spare truck X-Mundelein), the Mess Canteen Unit M5, plus Buffalo Grove EMA.
One firefighter was transported to an area hospital for observation after being evaluated in rehab and two dogs reportedly perished.
