The following images are from a still & box alarm fire in Chicago on Sunday, 12/3/23. The fire was in the old Swift mansion at 45th and Michigan. It started in a rear stairwell and was possibly of incendiary origins. The investigation has been turned over to CPD bomb and arson.
Schaumburg (IL) firefighters were sent to an unknown address on Lunt Avenue, just blocks from Station 53, early Friday evening (1/12/23) for a building fire. They reported a header almost immediately and the Code 3 was upgraded to a Code 4. They went defensive within minutes as there was a partial wall collapse on the east side of the building at 1037 Lune Avenue that had been divided into storage lockers. Both Schaumburg aerials deployed master streams in addition to several hand lines and ground monitors that were in use.
Firefighters from Wheeling and Prospect Heights (IL) responded to an outside fire at 25 Versailles Court on the morning of 12/4/22 at 9:30. Wheeling Engine 23 arrived and reported a fire on the ‘D’ side of the house and upgraded the alarm to a working fire. Flames engulfed the west side of the house along with an outdoor structure, and impinged on the second floor. There was an exposure concern to the house on the ‘D’ side but the fire was contained with what was apparently only damage to the vinyl siding on the neighbor’s house.
Several lines were deployed and Tower 24 went to the roof. The fire appeared to be contained within 15 minutes.
House fire at 25 Versailles Court in Wheeling, IL 12-4-22. Larry Shapiro photo
House fire at 25 Versailles Court in Wheeling, IL 12-4-22. Larry Shapiro photo
House fire at 25 Versailles Court in Wheeling, IL 12-4-22. Larry Shapiro photo
House fire at 25 Versailles Court in Wheeling, IL 12-4-22. Larry Shapiro photo
House fire at 25 Versailles Court in Wheeling, IL 12-4-22. Larry Shapiro photo
The North Maine FPD (in Illinois) along with firefighters from Des Plaines and Niles were sent to a somewhat remote location in unincorporated Des Plaines for a house fire Friday morning (12-2-22). The large house at 9609 Reding Circle sits on a small lake off of Golf Road and I-294. Reding Circle is a narrow, private road with minimal access.
As smoke was reported on arrival, the alarm was upgraded to a working fire, and it wasn’t long before flames were venting through the roof of the vacant house. Companies made an interior attack and were pulled out to transition into a defensive attack with aerial operations. Three trucks were put to work with master streams.
The alarm was upgraded again to a MABAS Box Alarm, although most of those mutual aid companies were not put to work.
A woman was killed and seven others, including three firefighters, were injured after a fire in a Calumet City (IL) apartment building 5/30/22.
Firefighters arrived on the scene and reported heavy fire on the second floor in a unit in the rear of the building, with flames extending to the seventh floor and the roof.
Four building residents and three firefighters were transported to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
A Des Plaines (IL) firefighter working in the fire prevention bureau spotted smoke from the eaves of a house 9/26/22 just before 2PM. After speaking with individuals outside the home, he called dispatch to report the house fire. He then entered the home to convince two people to evacuate and subsequently reentered to complete a secondary search.
The origin of the fire was believed to be a second story bathroom, but the entire second floor attic space of the split-level home was involved when suppression companies arrived.