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Not a Safe Place to Be

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GUNSHOTS AND ARSON MARKED THE HIGHLIGHT of the day in a Chicago, Illinois, apartment building Friday night. It all began around 10 pm during a domestic dispute when a man refused to let his woman friend leave her apartment, detaining her with a handgun.

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Chicagoist.com

The police arrived, set up a protective barricade at the apartment and began a period of lengthy negotiations. After about 2-½ hours, the woman tried to escape by running out the front door. While fleeing, the man shot her, critically injuring her. She then bumped into a policeman causing him to discharge his weapon and shoot himself in the leg.

Other officers returned fire on the man who then ran back into the apartment and jumped through a closed window, cutting himself and running down the fire escape where he broke into a 2nd-floor apartment and started a fire before finally being captured. The fire spread to two floors and went to two alarms, destroying six units on two floors. By the time it was over 3 hours after it all began, 20 people were left homeless.

WFLD-TV has this video report that sums it up:

Both the policeman and the victim were hospitalized in critical condition. The criminal, who turns out to have a lengthy record, is also hospitalized for his injuries from going through the window. He has been arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated arson and aggravated battery with a firearm.

The Chicago Tribune is carrying the STORY HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on January 10, 2010 • Filed under: Fires, Videos, crime, fire • Tagged: 2 alarm fire, Chicago, gunshots, hostage

Fire on 36th Floor Kills One, Brings 5 Alarms

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chicago c suntimes johnwhite A FIRE OVERNIGHT IN THE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, “GOLD COAST” section of high-dollar high-rises has left one civilian dead and 11 injured, including two FF’s.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight this morning on the 36th floor of the 44-story condominium apartment building on E. Chestnut. Dispatch started receiving a flurry of phone calls from residents on the upper floors of the condo reporting heavy smoke conditions on their floors. Many people were unable to evacuate down the fire towers because the smoke trapped them in their apartments. Some fled upwards to the roof and outside into 7-degree temperature.

The FD immediately upgraded the response to handle the immediate life hazard and brought more than 300 firefighters to the scene. Among the dozens of residents that were brought out by the FF’s was a woman who is 105-years-old. She, along with ten others, was transported to the hospital for observation. The CFD reported that 1/3 of the city’s fire equipment had been dispatched to the scene along with 18 ambulances.

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Sun-Times / John White photo

The sole fatality was a woman who was found in the unit where the fire started on the 36th floor. The FD contained the fire to the location of origin and the fire was knocked down before 3 am. Several hours were then occupied with a massive secondary search through the entire building.

WGN-TV has just filed this early video report:

There is an early report from the Chicago Sun-Times HERE.
Also from WGN-TV and the Chicago Tribune HERE.

Check back later for any updates to this incident.

Posted by firegeezer on December 10, 2009 • Filed under: Major Incidents, Rescues, Videos, fire • Tagged: 5 alarms, Chicago, condominium, fatality, high rise

deja Bridge

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THIS PAST MONDAY WE BROUGHT YOU A STORY of a train derailment in Chicago where a string of rail cars came within feet of crushing a pair of large propane tanks. (Review the story HERE.)

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(all photos by Larry Shapiro)

The story was illustrated with some photos by our fire photographer friend Larry Shapiro who covers the Chicago area. After returning home from the accident scene, Larry had a sense of familiarity about the location, so he started checking back through his photo archives. After a while, he found the photos that were banging on his subconscious and, sure enough, it was the very same bridge that had a derailment which he covered 35 years ago.

With the exception of fuller vegetation and taller bushes, things haven’t changed much:

train new

2009

* * *

train old

1974

Posted by firegeezer on November 5, 2009 • Filed under: photography • Tagged: bridge, Chicago, larry shapiro, train derailment

Train Derailment Stops Just Short of Disaster

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A FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR CHICAGO CAME CLOSE TO magnifying into a major incident Sunday afternoon. Two Canadian Pacific trains were meeting on opposite tracks in the Chicago, Illinois, suburb of Northbrook shortly after 3 pm when some of the cars left the tracks. The errant cars collided with the oncoming train and when it was done, there were 18 cars derailed. Both trains were hauling grain and clay.

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Larry Shapiro photo

Two of them tumbled off a bridge onto a roadway below, but fortunately there were no vehicles there at the moment. Several other cars went over an embankment and were on their way to taking out two large propane tanks mounted on foundations. The possible ka-boom was prevented by a collection of railway architecture that “caught” the cars as they were sliding down the bank.

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Larry Shapiro photo

When all the sizeup was done, there were no injuries and the haz-mat teams from MABAS Division 3 were returned to quarters after the threatened propane tanks had been placed on flatbeds and removed. The tank removal was expected to take about 20 minutes, but an eyewitness tells us that the propane company’s truck positioned improperly and got stuck in the mud. It had to be towed out before the transfer could take place about an hour later.

A nearby strip shopping center was evacuated, but has been re-opened today. The road that passes under the tracks will be closed for several days.

Fire photographer Larry Shapiro was on the scene and has posted a 99-image photo gallery HERE.
(Be sure to click on the panorama views, too.)

There are more details of the wreck in the Daily Herald HERE