Here are some photos of the first companies leading out at a 5-11 alarm fire in Alsip, Illinois on May 13, 2007.  I had just finished shopping at the Ford City Mall which is 5 miles north of the incident location in Chicago’s southwest suburbs.  As I pulled out of the parking lot I noticed what I thought was a small header rising up south of me.  I did not have a scanner with me so I just started heading that way.

Eric Haak photo

As I approached the header grew rapidly.  As a result of being on Cicero Avenue when the fire initiated, I arrived on scene very quickly.  When I got there, Alsip Truck 2014 had just finished setting up and was the only company on scene flowing water.  The fire at this time was mostly in the the far rear portion of the property and along the fence line on the north side of the yard.

Eric Haak photo

The photos that you see include the following; Alsip Truck 2014 working when I first walked up, Alsip crews stretching the first hand line, the fire as it looked in the rear of the yard before it had spread to the show room, Oak Lawn company moving their position back as fire began to break through the front of the show room and my favorite apparatus shot I took that day of Hometown’s Engine 466.

Eric Haak photo

Eric Haak photo

As most people that day, I took a lot of pictures and have many more great images of rigs working this incident.  I wanted to include these because they are a little different than most of the standard shots taken that day.  This fire occurred on Mother’s Day and was a massive operation.  The amazing thing was that the day before, Chicago had a massive 4-11 daytime worker at 4150 N. Knox.  I don’t believe the Chicago area has had two fires this large on back-to-back days since.