Above is one of the rescues from the fire yesterday morning at 714 E. 82nd Street in Chicago. This was the fire where Engine 82′s officer provided a size-up on the radio saying “holy shit” as he scanned the building noting heavy fire conditions with people trapped and one who already jumped.
Some people have written saying they had had difficulty with the player for the audio from Radioman911.com that we posted. Below is the isolated transmission from Engine 82 for those who missed it. Click here for the more complete audio recording.
Radioman911.com sends along the audio from this morning’s 3-11 / EMS Plan 1 at 714 E. 82nd St. The fire was reported at 5:21 AM. TRUST ME and make sure you listen at 4:55 into the audio as Engine 82 arrives on the scene with a jumper and rescues. This size-up will become a classic.
The fire was quickly raised to a 3-11 alarm, the second of the early morning, and extra ambulances were called. The fire was struck out shortly before 7 a.m.
When firefighters pulled up, flames were shooting from third- and fourth-floor windows. Firefighters quickly raised ladders to rescue residents, he said.
“They had people hanging out the windows,” Fire Chief Michael Fox told reporters. “And they had one person who already jumped into the alley.”
At least four people have been taken to hospitals after an apartment building on the city’s South Side caught fire early Tuesday.
Emergency crews responded around 5:30 a.m. after a four-story apartment building at 717 East 82nd Street caught fire near Evans. the fire was under control by 6:40 a.m. At that time, crews also announced there were no more ambulance transfers to hospitals necessary.
An EMS Plan 1 — which automatically sends five ambulances to the scene — was called. A 2-11 response was called by about 5:35 a.m. and quickly elevated to a 3-11 alarm, Fire Media Affairs said. An extra-alarm calls for at least 8 engines, four trucks, two tower ladders, an ambulance and the Command Van to the scene.
Our friend Steve Redick had a busy night chasing after the firefighters of Chicago. Two extra-alarm fires broke out about two hours apart.
The first was a 3-11 church fire where a parishoner has been arrested for arson. It was reported around 9:30 PM at Edgebrook Evangelical Lutheran Church in the 6400 block of N. Hiawatha Avenue.
At 11:45 PM a fire in a Greektown restaurant was reported. The restaurant was destroyed and a grocery store and other businesses heavily damaged during the 4-11 alarm response .
James Deichman, 61, of the 6200 block of North Cicero is charged with felony arson at a place of worship.
Interim Pastor Rev. John Holm said during a phone interview that Deichman is a member of the church. Just yesterday morning, Holm said he and other church leaders discussed ways to get the man help because of an obvious deterioration in his mental health.
Holm said Deichman lit some garbage cans on fire outside the church and then broke a window and started a fire in the lobby. Police responding to the scene found him inside and were able to get him out safely, Holm said.
The church building is “absolutely devastated”, Holm said. An adjacent educational center is unusable due to smoke and water damage.
The church was built in 1943 and expanded in 1953. The church web site describes the architecture as a “slightly modern adaptation of the English Village Church.”
“We’re going to say some prayers and sing some hymns and just try to hold each other up,” Holm said.
A deep fat-fryer may be the cause for an extra-alarm fire that left a Greektown restaurant a total loss and heavily damaged an adjacent building, fire officials said.
Firefighters were called out to the 2-story building that houses Costas Greek Dining & Bar at 340 S. Halsted St., about 11:35 p.m., said Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The fire was initially struck out shortly after 3 a.m. but officials said they were still on the scene as they worked to shut gas service off.
The restaurant manager told firefighters arriving on the scene that the fire started in the kitchen and a deep fat fryer may have sparked the blaze, fire officials said. A fire department spokesman said while they suspect the deep fryer as a cause an investigation will determine a final cause of the blaze.
The fire quickly rose from 3-alarm status to 4 when it spread to the building to the north. That building houses three businesses — Athens Grocery, the Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop and Greektown Gift and Music Shop.
Fireground audio of 3-alarm Oregon fire with water supply problems: Click here for the radio traffic from FireSceneAudio.com of the fire in a large vacant early 1900s building at the Fairview Training Center in Salem. Read more.
Report faults firefighters for not following procedures during fatal fire: Four members of the DeKalb County Fire Department, including two captains and a battalion chief remain suspended with pay after a report puts a lot of the blame on their shoulders for failing to find the burning home of a woman who called 911 early Sunday. They did return about five hours later to find the house destroyed and the woman dead. Read the report and more details.
Woman hit by hose falls off fire engine: You had probably seen the earlier story on this one from Cambridge, Massachusetts. A loyal reader and Firegeezer alert us to the update that an 82-year-old woman died when she was hit by hose that fell off the rig as the crew was responding. Click here.
Ambulance with a very bad reputation lives up to its past and burns: The ambulance that helped push New Jersey lawmakers to widen the states “Lemon Law” to include emergency vehicles self destructed yesterday and few are surprised. Click for pictures, video and the to read the story.
Mayor and fire department director finally talking in Memphis: With the TV station into its second week of stories on hiring practices at the Memphis Fire Department, city officials are now answering some questions about the arrest of 80 firefighters over the last five year. Click for the mayor and here for Director Alivin Benson.
Fire department takes $128,000 loss on new fire engine that was just too big: Pennsylvania’s Lawrence Park Fire Department (Erie County) sold its new, 37.9-foot-long Pierce Dash Pumper just 17-months after getting the $510,000 rig. They found Engine 284 too big for the township’s alleys. And the sale has caused some controversy. Read the story.
Omaha heating up again: Loyal reader Ron Young points us to some stories out of Omaha where there has been controversy over a proposed new fire boat and other items being purchased from a special fund. Click here for that one (and an earlier article here).
The news never stops in Bourne, Massachusetts: Just when we thought things might calm down after the resignation of Lt. Kelli Weeks, there is even more controversy in the Bourne Fire Department. The acting chief now has some allegations against him. Click here for that story. Also, the firefighters’ union has some harsh words for how the town selectmen handled the Weeks affair. Check it out.
Another blue light special: In Des Moines police say a Grand Junction volunteer firefighter apparently wants to also be a volunteer police officer. The cops say 29-year-old Richard Collogan was pulling people over with his blue light. Read the details.
It is not the CNN employee I expected to do this: If there was ever someone from CNN who I could easily see an old firehouse in New York to live in, it would be my friend, and fire buff extraordinaire, Vito Maggiolo. But the story at HuffingtonPost.com isn’t about Vito. It’s about Anderson Cooper paying $4.3 million for such a privilege. Click here for the story and pictures.
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