Local

Winnebago Street Fire: #PFFD Activity Report May 28 – June 3


Winnebago Street Fire
Late in the evening on May 30th, members of the Park Forest FD (career and POC), along with auto-aid from Matteson, Richton Park and South Chicago Heights, were dispatched to a structure fire in the 400 block of Winnebago. (Photo: PFFD)

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- During the week of May 28 through June 3, the Park Forest Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 400 block of Winnebago Street. The Winnebago Street fire raged on two floors. There were a total number of 75 responses, 27 for fire and/or service, 48 for EMS.

Response Activity

Late on Tuesday, May 30, units from Park Forest, Matteson, Richton Park and South Chicago Heights were dispatched to a possible structure fire in the 400 block of Winnebago Street.

The fire department arrived to find fire on two floors and through the roof of a Cape Cod style, single family home. No one was home at the time, so firefighters forced entry and began attacking the fire with hose lines on both floors.

It quickly became apparent part of the 2nd floor bedroom had collapsed into the 1st floor bedroom, so extra precautions were taken and a box alarm for additional companies was requested. The fire was extinguished; however, there was significant damage to the home and contents.

The Red Cross came to the scene to assist the displaced residents. Thankfully, there were no injuries, civilian or firefighter, at this incident.

On Wednesday, Park Forest personnel responded to University Park on automatic aid for a reported kitchen fire. Park Forest firefighters assisted in quickly extinguishing and ventilating this fire. The Park Forest company was quickly returned to service after the fire activity was wrapped up. Automatic aid is utilized by most area fire departments to assist in assembling the required staffing to meet the needs of modern fire attack in a timely fashion.

Training Activities

On Tuesday, May 30 and Wednesday, May 31, shift members completed ladder training. In this training members concentrated on one person extension ladder techniques and carrying tools up and down ladders.

On Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2, shift members trained on hose. This includes hose testing, hose packs and rolls.

On Friday June 2, the POC division completed ladder training at the training site. In these sessions, members practiced ladder carries and throws.

Other Activities

On Monday members of the fire department participated in the Park Forest American Legion’s Memorial Day ceremony on the Village Green in Downtown. This solemn ceremony recognized those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending our country. The on duty shift along with members of administration, the Paid-On-Call division and the volunteers were on site to support the activity and to assist in cleanup after the event.

On Wednesday the Fire Chief, along with the rest of the senior village staff, met with resident of west Lincolnwood at one of the Village’s neighborhood meetings. Resident at this meeting were provided with general information and offered the opportunity to ask questions of the Village Board and staff on issues impacting their specific neighborhood.

On Thursday, June 1, a number of the department’s paramedics participated remotely in a Region VII disaster drill based in Alsip. This mass casualty event was being used to test the capacity and response capabilities of emergency responders and hospitals in this simulation. In this exercise, rather than having ambulances actually move throughout the region tying up resources across the south suburbs, agencies participate on a virtual basis. This is the first time this virtual participation was attempted in the region. While it might need some tweaking, it allow wide spread participation without impacting a community’s ability to provide service to its citizens.

Also on Thursday, the Fire Chief attended a standards committee meeting for E-Com and SouthCom. This meeting helps the two dispatch center work together as they are functionally consolidated; sharing software, hardware and radio links. A key topic of this meeting was the policies and procedures for an emergency switch-over to back up systems and servers and the desire to hold a full scale test of the system.

Source: PFFD on Facebook


ARCHIVES