Here are some images from a working fire in the 4600 block of West Altgeld in Chicago on Sunday morning (11/11). The fire was contained to the attic. Unfortunately this was an occupied home and several family members, including children, were left homeless by this incident. Companies were Battalion 7, Engine 91, Truck 58, Engine 7, Truck 35, Squad 2, Battalion 8 RIT with Truck 53.
A very short Still & Box Alarm on Sunday afternoon (10/28) in Chicago at 4156 W. 63rd Street. The fire was in a 1-story grocery store that was closed for the day. E127 landed first. The first picture was taken about 2 minutes before the box was requested. B16 reported that he had some fire in the basement with access issues. Needless to say, the Still and Box was not in very long.
The Roberts Park Fire Protection District had an apartment fire Saturday afternoon 8/4/18 at 8453 S. 88th Avenue in Justice, IL. Most of the firefighting was over so here are some images of rig placement at the incident. The alarm went to a 4-11 with an EMS Plan I and an appearance of the Chicago Fire Department’s Engine 64, Truck 31, Ambulance 77, and Battalion 15. Eric Haak
Chicago’s 19th Battalion had a working fire this morning (Sunday, 6/24) at 7241 S. Sangamon. The fire came in at 5:45 and Engine 54 landed a short time later with a fire on the first floor. I arrived just in time to catch companies washing down. While the rear attic window was being laddered, a mother pitbull and 5 of her puppies came charging out the back door. Thankfully, all were friendly and didn’t seem at all bothered by the work going on around them.
The town of Saint Anne, Illinois had a 4th Alarm MABAS Box on Saturday afternoon (4/22). The call came in just before 3:30 pm with a report of flames seen from the closet. It was quickly obvious that this was a little more than that as the fire was boxed nearly on arrival and was escalated to a 2nd Alarm minutes later. Very low water pressure led to available resources being spread thin and thousands of feet of 5 inch being dropped across the neighborhood. Eventually a tanker operation was set up as well as a MABAS 27 Engine Task Force request.
Saturday evening, March 24th, 2018. Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck responded to the corner of Woodward and Arizona for the report of a fire in a commercial building. This structure was on the NE corner, just across the street from Highland Park in Detroit. It was most recently used as a taxi company dispatch. Companies attempted an interior attack but went defensive shortly after with the truss roof in a compromised position.
Grosse Pointe, Michigan 5-Alarm Fire, March 26, 2018.
The city of Grosse Pointe, Michigan received calls of a fully-involved home on Washington Road around 10:20pm on Monday, March 26th, 2018. The city is protected by a Public Safety Department where personnel are both police officers and firefighters. The first arriving unit reported a fully-involved, 2-story colonial that was under construction with fire through the roof, and immediately called for a 3rd alarm. I am not aware of what exactly that brings, but I can tell you it does not bring what many 3rd alarms do. A minute or so later, a 4th alarm was requested.
Eventually, the City of Detroit was requested as auto-aid but it was too little, too late. The fast moving inferno quickly overpowered the short-handed department. The “D” side exposure was another large, 2-story colonial and the “B” side exposure was a large tudor. Both of these structures were occupied and both would be incinerated in a manner that every homeowner should be aware of. Experienced fire suppression crews are invaluable and this was evident in the loss of the exposures during this incident. The men and women on scene did everything they could, but they just did not have the manpower to keep up. For reference, the first image was taken about 25 minutes in and is the original fire building.
