WBEZ | Chicago Fire Department

Emanuel: ‘No threat to Chicago,’ marathon will go on

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:24:00 -0500

Chicago City Hall was quiet on Tuesday as Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that “there is no threat to (the city).” Security officials around the city and at its two major airports, however, remain on alert following deadly twin bomb blasts at yesterday’s Boston Marathon.

Even though Emanuel reiterated there is no “credible threat” to the city, he urged Chicagoans to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious. The mayor said he met this morning at City Hall with his top cabinet officials in the police and fire departments, as well as the head of the city’s emergency communications center.

Emanuel added he called Boston Mayor Thomas Menino yesterday to offer his support, following the bombings that have killed three people and injured more than 170 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

“While it was a horrific event, it showed the best of this country,” Emanuel said, adding: “I think everybody was heartfelt for the residents of the city of Boston, so I wanted to make sure that they knew that our resources were available if they needed them.”

Security at Chicago’s City Hall didn’t seem stricter than normal Tuesday, save for the presence of two Chicago cops on horseback who were stationed on LaSalle Street. The Chicago Police Department did not immediately offer details as to what additional security measures might be in place.

Emanuel also insisted the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, set for October 13, will go ahead as planned. In a statement Tuesday, Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski said race organizers have been in contact with the city’s public safety agencies since yesterday’s bombings.

“As our top priority, we work in lockstep with these agencies to ensure the safest possible event for everyone involved. As we do each year and throughout the year, we will sit down with these agencies and conduct a comprehensive security review as part of the planning process for this year’s event,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, security adjustments at area airports were more overt.

“Passengers traveling through Chicago’s airports today may notice a more visible presence of Chicago police officers, canine units and aviation security officers,” Chicago Department of Aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham explained.

Cunningham said the department would continue to work closely with local and federal agencies on safety and security matters.

The Department of Homeland Security said it would continue to keep in place enhanced security measures at transportation hubs. Meanwhile the Transportation Security Administration is set to allow airline passengers to carry small folding knives on planes later this month.

The policy change is the first shift of its kind since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Al Keefe is a WBEZ reporter. Follow him at @akeefe.

Fire and Ice: South Side warehouse may take days to extinguish

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:05:00 -0600

Updated: 1:30 p.m.

It will take several days for a fire in an abandoned South Side warehouse to be totally extinguished.

Across the street a deluge unit is shooting 4,000 gallons of water a minute onto the massive Bridgeport structure, which has turned into an ice-caked building that looks like it was dipped in frost. Located in an industrial district at 37th and Ashland, the edifice is a surreal site slicked in ice. Smoke billows from atop.

“For safety reasons we have to stay back a little bit so we can’t get right to the scene of the fire but we have it contained, it’s not going to go anywhere. But it is a dangerous time. ... We have the firefighters as far back as we can,” said Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Jose Santiago Thursday morning.

The fire erupted on Tuesday evening and rekindled on Thursday. Currently, 40 firefighters are on the scene, down from 170 when the fire first erupted. One firefighter suffered a minor injury.

Santiago said the cause of the fire is unknown and conditions aren’t safe yet to enter the building. Inside, there were many early collapses. Below-zero temperatures have made putting out the fire difficult. A crane will knock down part of the warehouse on Friday, Santiago said. This is the largest fire the city has seen in years.

Chicago has a plethora of vacant buildings — residential and commercial, which can cause safety concerns.

“We’re always concerned about vacant structures like this. We always want to get the word out there you have to keep them closed. We do have some people who may not have a place to stay and they sometimes go into these structures, start small fires to go ahead and warm themselves,” Santiago said.

The fire commissioner said the CFD works with the city building department on structurally-unsound buildings. A red “x” is displayed on the building so first responders know it could be a danger.

Onlookers braved frosty temperatures to get a look at the still-smoldering, ice-encrusted warehouse at 3757 S. Ashland Ave. in the city’s Bridgeport neighborhood on Wednesday.

Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said the building will be demolished once all the fires inside are extinguished.

“It’s turning into an ice castle,” Langford said in a phone interview, describing the building as “something from bombed-out Europe.”

“I’ve never seen this sight before. Wow, holy cow, seems like something worth photographing [...] Very surreal,” said Tom Vasilj, who described himself as a video editor and amateur photographer.

First Deputy Fire Commissioner Charles Stewart III says frigid temperatures made the fire more difficult to handle.

The Chicago Transit Authority brought in warming buses so that firefighters could seek relief from the cold. City crews also are working to salt the roads around the building to help deal with the build-up of ice.

The vacant warehouse is located in a section of Chicago called the Central Manufacturing District. It’s one of the city’s first office parks, according to Lee Bey, WBEZ contributor and Executive Director of the Chicago Central Area Committee.

“The Central Manufacturing District that was once so bustling it had its own police force and its own transportation inside of it and now none of that is there, obviously,” Bey said.

Many companies moved their businesses away from the area for the suburbs near the middle of the 20th century.

Scott Kanowsky contributed to this report.

Veteran Chicago paramedics reflect on 38 years of saving lives

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:45:00 -0600

Back in 1974, a couple of twenty-something adrenaline junkies both saw the same ad in the newspaper. The City of Chicago was hiring for a position with the job title "para medics."

That's how Tony Scipione and Gunther Kettenbeil became part of the first paramedic crews in the city. They've been at it ever since – until this week when they retired after 38 years on the job.

When the two started in the mid '70s, most people had never even heard the term ‘paramedic.’ People relied on private ambulances or ill-equipped responders from the fire department. The system was so primitive that Kettenbeil had to bring his own stethoscope and blood pressure cuff to work. Firefighters scoffed at the equipment and called it his "bag of tricks."

Scipione said emergency responders were mostly making it up as they went along.

“At that time firemen were only carrying in oxygen tanks and maybe a couple roller bandages stuffed into their pocket,” Scipione said. “We didn’t have a lot of equipment. Either we didn’t have it, or it was nonexistent at the time. There were many of the ambulances that were just Cadillac Ambulances if you were lucky, or a station wagon.”

Once, Scipione showed up for a shift and instead of an ambulance or station wagon, all they had for him was a sedan. Just put the patients in the backseat, he was told. Kettenbeil said city hospitals weren’t sure what to expect from the new paramedics either.

"They were so worried things would not work right they had nurses ride with us for a week just to to make sure that these single role medics knew what to do," Kettenbeil said.

Since then, the job has changed dramatically – from station wagon backseats to high-tech ambulances – but one thing has remained the same: EMS workers still often put their own lives on the line to save others.

“I don’t think there’s a paramedic on this job now that hasn’t risked their lives and been in a situation where it was a close call,” Kettenbeil said.

Scipione remembers one particularly harrowing night during a snowstorm, when he responded to a car accident on Lake Shore Drive.

“I positioned the ambulance in such a way so that people would see it,” he said. “Or so I thought.”

He and his partner took two injured people into the ambulance. Scipione headed back to the car.

As he checked on the driver, Scipione noticed a car approaching from the corner of his eye.

“And I thought -- I don’t think this person can see us,” Scipione said. “And I’ll tell you, if I didn’t jump in on that woman’s lap, I would be dead. Because he literally took off the door of the automobile as he went past.”

The driver, blinded by the snow, skidded to a stop. Everyone survived.

“But I remember my partner sticking her head out the window saying ‘Tony, what was all that noise?’ As my heart was going 240, thinking I just almost lost my life,” Scipione said. “And the women in the car (was) looking at me like ‘What the hell are you doing?’”

Scipione said it wasn’t uncommon for paramedics to encounter all kinds of dangerous situations in the early days.

“I’ve been shot at,” Scipione said. “I’ve been chased with knives.”

“Held hostage,” Kettenbeil added. “I’ve been held hostage, shot at on both sides (of the job), the firefighter and paramedic side.”

But no matter how tough the neighborhood, when they got a call that someone’s grandmother was having a heart attack or a kid was having an asthma attack, they were almost always given space to do their jobs.

Scipione said responding to emergencies all over Chicago – from projects like Cabrini-Green to the highest-priced condos in the city – made him realize something early on.

“We’re all the same,” Scipione said. “Doesn’t matter where you come from. We all have the same hopes and dreams and wishes.”

When they started, there were only about 20 ambulances in the city. There’s more than triple that amount now. Scipione said less Chicago residents are dying from asthma attacks, strokes and even gunshot wounds thanks to better technology, medications and training for EMS workers.

But the hours haven't changed. It's still a grueling 24-hour shift, where paramedics are lucky to get a lunch break.

“Lot of times we would have food on the go,” Kettenbeil said. “I learned to put everything on a sandwich, including spaghetti. Eating was on the way to the next call.”

After a stressful day of work, most folks have the option of stopping off at a bar. But paramedics get off work at 8 a.m., so Scipione said they would often blow off steam over breakfast.

“Everybody would talk about what they saw, just talk about it to get it out,” he said. “Because you know if you tried to go home and tell your wife...they didn’t understand what we were saying. Where you could talk to another paramedic and they knew where you were coming from. One minute, you’re dealing with bringing life into the world. The next minute, you’re dealing with somebody dying.”

Despite starting out together, the pioneering paramedics worked apart for most of their careers. Then six years ago, Scipione was reassigned to a firehouse on the Northwest side. When he showed up, there was his old pal, Kettenbeil.

It only seemed natural that they should retire together. Their final shift was November 12, the same day they started in the department back in 1974.

“Gunther had a whole head of red hair and I had a whole head of black hair that we don’t have anymore,” Scipione laughed. “Things change a little bit. Got a little bit older, a little bit wiser.”

Scipione said he’s a little nervous about retirement.

“I really believe that the feeling that I’m feeling today... is exactly the same feeling that I felt the day I was hired,” Scipione said. “The excitement, the uncertainty of not knowing (what’s next). Because I don’t know.”

But Kettenbeil said he knows what’s next. He and his wife are going fishing.

A Halloween story: The mystery of the ghostly handprint

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 05:00:00 -0500

April 18, 1924 was a Friday. At 7:30 in the evening, a passerby noticed smoke coming from Curran Hall, a massive four-story brick building at 1363 South Blue Island Avenue. The man ran to the corner fire-alarm box and pulled the lever.

Two miles to the west, at Engine Company #107, fireman Francis Leavy was washing a window. The call came in and Leavy rushed out with the rest of the company. He told the captain he’d finish the window when they got back.

Five squads converged on Curran Hall. The blaze seemed to be minor. The firemen were getting it under control when one of the outer walls began buckling. Then it collapsed, trapping eight men.

The falling wall knocked out electrical power at the site. Portable lighting was brought in, while firemen combed the wreckage for their comrades. But all eight men had been killed. Among the dead was Francis Leavy.

It was later determined that Curran Hall had been deliberately torched for the insurance. The building owners were tried and convicted of the crime.

Now for the rest of the story . . .

The day after the fire, one of the men at Engine Company #107 noticed the window that Leavy had left half-washed. In the middle of the window was a handprint. The man tried scrubbing it out, but the handprint stayed.

From that time forward, so the legend goes, every fireman assigned to Engine Company #107 attempted to remove the handprint. They used water, soap, ammonia and acid; they scraped it with razor blades. Nothing worked.

The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company was called in. My dad was a glazier at PPG, though years later. The way he heard the story, PPG applied their strongest chemical solvents to the handprint–and still couldn’t remove it.

Was the handprint a ghostly souvenir of the dead fireman? It’s said that Leavy’s thumbprint was obtained from his personnel records, and compared with the print on the window. They matched perfectly.

The end of the tale is prosaic. A newsboy threw a paper through the window and broke it. Most accounts say this happened in 1946.

But one version claims that the window was broken on April 18, 1944 – 20 years to the day of Francis Leavy’s death.

One-on-one with Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago

Fri, 04 May 2012 08:11:00 -0500

When Chicago Fire Department Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff resigned earlier this year, Mayor Emanuel chose another longtime Chicagoan to lead the department. Jose Santiago has some 33 years with the Chicago Fire Department, but that might not have been the case without some prodding from his “fire buff” friends decades ago.

“They loved the fire department, I had no clue what the fire department was,” Santiago told host Steve Edwards Friday on Afternoon Shift.

At that time, Santiago already had a job, and he wasn’t particularly interested in becoming a fire fighter. His friends—impressed by his physical physique from being a reserve Marine—persisted. They bought him a ticket to take the entrance exam, and he passed with flying colors.

Santiago takes over leadership of the department during a time when a lot is on the line. NATO comes to Chicago in just over two weeks, contract talks have started with the Chicago Firefighters Union, and diversity within the department continues to be an issue, all of which he addressed in his interview.

Emanuel appoints new Fire Department commissioner

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:50:00 -0600

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday he's appointing 33-year firefighter veteran Jose Santiago as the new commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department.

The announement came the same day current Commissioner Rober Hoff publicly announced his resignation as head of the department.

Santiago currently serves as Deputy Fire Commisioner for the Chicago Fire Department. He also served briefly as executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications from March 2010 to June 2011, and spent 31 years in the Marine Corps.

Santiago praised outgoing Commissioner Hoff for his service to the Fire Department, and promised upon his appointment to "ensure this office reflects the diversity of ideas and backgrounds and ideas of this great city."

Hoff served in the Fire Department for 35 years and was appointed as Commissioner in 2010 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. A third-generation Chicago firefighter, Hoff has been honored twice with the Carter Harrison Award, one of the Fire Department's two most prestigious awards.

Hoff said his decision to step down was "personal," and not fueld by policy disagreements with Emanuel. He said he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren.

"What is more beautiful in life is to spend time with them?" said Hoff as he pointed to his wife, son and two grandsons, who stood with him as he announced his resignation. "This job is very time consuming. And I'll be honest with you, I need to spend more time with them."

Published reports from a city budget hearing last October say Hoff told City Council he was "deathly against" Mayor Emanuel's suggestions to close some firehouses and reduce the number of men on each truck to save money.

When asked whether he was against the mayor's budget-cutting proposals, Santiago skirted the question.

"There's many many different studies on what is safe and not," said Santiago. "That's what we've been working on, taking in all that information, and we'll make a determination based on safety."

Santiago's appointment still needs to approved by the City Council.

Chicago Fire Department makes system updates one year after fatal blaze

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:17:00 -0600

One year after two firefighters died fighting a blaze on the city's South Side, the Chicago Fire Department says it's made key updates to help keep responders safer.

Deputy Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said on Wednesday that firefighters are now alerted before leaving the station if a building is considered "dangerous." Santiago also said updates to the agency's digital radio system are close to being finished.

"They [the radios] have to be perfect for safety reasons. People talk on those things. Digital is all brand new throughout the fire services in the country. We're making sure ours are as best as we can get them," said Santiago.

The Fire Department was criticized after last year's incident for not having enough communication with the men inside the burning building.

In July, federal investigators with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health complied a report that said commanders outside the building didn’t have enough communication with the men inside who were fighting the fire. The report also criticized the CFD for not giving every firefighter a personal radio, and for not having a system whereby firefighters could easily identify structurally unsafe buildings before entering them.

State's Attorney files criminal charges for 2010 South-Side blaze

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:11:00 -0600

Cook County prosecutors are seeking criminal contempt charges against the owner of a Chicago building where two firefighters died last year after the roof collapsed in a fire.

Chuck Dai, 62, of South Holland, Ill. is charged with decidedly failing to comply with a 2009 agreed-to court order to repair and secure his vacant south side building, previously used as laundromat.

“Given the tragic series of events and the grave circumstances of the loss of these two dedicated first responding firefighters, as well as the injury of so many other of their colleagues, I feel very strongly that a criminal sanction is required and appropriate in this case,” Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a press conference on Wednesday.

According to a 2007 complaint filed by the City of Chicago, an investigator cited Dai and his brother, Richard, with 14 building code violations, noting problems with the then-vacated building’s roof and support structures. The complaint alleges the roof and roof trusses of the building were “rotted, had holes and were leaking.”

After failed court appearances and a $14,000 fine, Dai negotiated an agreement in 2009 with the court requiring that he bring his building into compliance with the city’s municipal code by November 2010 in exchange for reducing the fine.

On Dec. 22, 2010 – almost two months after Dai was ordered to have the building up to city standards - the roof collapsed as firefighters were attempting to contain a blaze, killing Edward Stringer, 47, and Corey Ankum, 34, and injuring 14 others.

“There was a court order that was entered. He [Dai] was present when the court order was entered. He signed it, he agreed to it, to repair the necessary violations, and it was never abided by,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez estimated there are 18,000 vacant residences in Chicago, as well 1,500 open and unsecured commercial buildings. She said criminal charges against those who don’t maintain their property are not filed routinely, but that it is an option the city can take.

Dai’s attorney, Gene Murphy, said the State's Attorney's office has no proof that Dia willfully ignored the court order to fix his property.

"There are just horrible accidents that kind of defy definition and defy logic, and they're just that," Murphy said. "They're horrible accidents, and that's what we believe this is."

Dai is scheduled to appear in court next week. The State's Attorney's office wants Dai to serve jail time.

Building collapses in extra-alarm fire in Lincoln Park

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:02:00 -0500

Updated at 6:21 p.m.

Chicago firefighters have controlled an extra alarm fire on the city's North Side. Large plumes of black smoke could be seen from downtown Friday afternoon as Chicago firefighters battled the blaze at 525 W. Armitage, a residential building in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood. The three-story building was consumed by the flames, causing it to collapse.

Fire officials said the call came in just before 1:00 on Friday, and firefighters were able to knock it down a little over an hour later. As of late Friday afternoon, firefighters were still on scene.

A spokesman for the fire department said the building was vacant, and that nobody was injured in the blaze.

Earlier, sources had said there were two structures involved in the fire, but a spokesman later confirmed the flames were confined to just a single structure. He said approximately 100 firemen were on scene to battle the blaze and they used around 40 pieces of equiptment.

Four Chicago firefighters fired over mileage fraud

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:24:00 -0500

CHICAGO -- Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Robert Hoff says four firefighters will be terminated for falsifying mileage reports.

Hoff's announcement on Thursday comes after an investigation by the Chicago Inspector General found dozens of firefighters fraudulently added $100,000 worth of mileage to reports in 2009.

The inspector general recommended all firefighters be terminated.

But Hoff instead fired four of them and gave the others unpaid suspensions of between 30 and 60 days. Six firefighters retired.

Hoff says those who received suspensions had otherwise clean disciplinary reports.

The firefighters worked in the Fire Prevention Bureau. The city law department is investigating if the money can be recouped.