ShapPhoto-Chicago 5-11 alarm warehouse fire on Nelson

[@michaelgoode4457]

I own a plumbing company that was, at the time of this fire was located at 2639 W. Barry-the single story building located on the backside of the warehouse on Nelson. We had about 5 employees at the time. At about 6:30 or so on Sunday morning, my phone started ringing repeatedly-it was my neighbor at the warehouse, who owned a business that salvaged architectural features from homes. He told me there was a fire at our building and I should get down there as he didn't know how serious things were. I hustled down there to find a huge amount of firefighting equipment on all of the streets surrounding these buildings. My neighbors in this mixed use building were similar in that we were all trying to make a go of the small business world-my plumbing company, the salvage guy I mentioned, a small pilates studio, Andy's Music, another small plumbing company, a carpenter, etc. All of my trucks, tools, and equipment, and office, were in the building. All I could see was a huge amount of water pouring out of my overhead door. My brother, father, and one of my employees met me there-I begged a firefighter for access as I had five families that relied on income. He told me he could not let me in, but looked the other way. My dad, brother, and Bob ( the employee) scrambed in, threw every piece of equipment we could into our 4 service trucks, which included two older Volkswagen buses, a Chevy Astro, and a Dodge Sprinter, and got them out and parked them out of the way. My brother went off to rent two storage units and a Public storage-one for our office, one for equipment, and we rented outdoor parking spots for the trucks. We worked into the night to get things set up, and were back at work at 7am on Monday, not missing a single service call for our clients. The firefighters worked til late into the next night as the building was taken down and small fires continued. A pretty stressful and crazy time for all of us small business owners, but grateful to the firefighters for risking so much to get this handled-and I am eternally grateful to the fireman who allowed me to get our trucks and equipment out, and for my family and Bob for helping on this day. My company is going strong and a lot of it came down to what happened on this day. I will say this, a few of the people who shared the space here were nervous, and in fact, Bob and I stopped by the office a few weeks before this happened, to find a small fire in our office-there was a worker hired by the building to start cutting the roof apart, and he dropped a piece of metal and roofing that was on fire, into our space and onto our carpet. Bob and I got it extinguished, and the worker asked us not to call-but we did call the fire department anyway. We were considering looking for other space, as we were nervous about the safety here. Hope that the other business were able to get started again.

[@ianlounsbury1544]

Surprised you were not let in; you have personal knowledge of the layout. Removing potential fire load, by taking out the vehicles and their gasoline, dramatically reduces the risk should that fire spread. Even having local people take out combustibles is a huge help, as was seen in the massive Windsor Castle fire, where the locals by the hundreds lined up to carry out carpets, tapestries, paintings, and furniture. In a rural department, your assistance would be happily welcomed!

[@michaelkalka5578]

Awesome. From a South Bend firefighter to watching one of the best fire dept. in the country

[@joeburros4878]

Yea I hope u were ur scba in South bend

[@Quadflash]

Pro camera work and tight editing. Strong work ShapPhoto.

[@alarmoffice711]

That reserve snorkel is great, takes me back to 80's

[@brianlevy9530]

WELL reserve snorkel 1 IS THE OLDEST TRUCK IN THE CHICAGO FIRE DEPARTMENT IT'S 36YRS OLD CHICAGOSCANNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>;-)

[@stevenb6984]

That is a beautiful, well taken care of reserve snorkel. Can't go wrong with a Seagrave and Pierce combo. Love the loud Detroit Diesel, a true fire truck!

[@nancypofahl4602]

This is excellent footage. Well done.

[@Branchporter]

Wikipedia - "A master stream is a fire service term for a water stream of 350 US gallons (1,300 L) per minute or greater." 12 master streams would equal at least 4,200 gallons per minute. (5,600 liters per minute)

[@Bobbyd0052]

A LIL LATE TO THIS PARTY ! GREAT WORK ,"TOP SHELF" ! JUST FOUND YOU , PLEASE STAY SAFE !🇺🇲

[@MoonwolfeConsulting]

Superior camera work and editing. Thanks!

[@HimJimRimDim]

Great video work. watching it full screen I almost felt like I was standing there watching it live. I could almost "feel" the heat of the fire.

[@MJK1965]

One hell of a fire. It wouldn't quit.

[@alarmoffice711]

At 15:31 as reserve snorkel 1 is turning you can see rehab 5-7-2 & 5-7-3 from O'Hare drives by, why 2 rehabs?

[@Bulldog1653]

ChicagoScanner simple. It’s because of the amount of manpower on the scene. One rehab couldn’t handle that many people

[@tobycameron317]

CFD usually divides up roles (Plans, Attack, Safety, RIT, etc.) pretty carefully. If you're 'in charge' it's usually first-among-equals; 2-1-9 thought he was ranking officer. He'd been doing a good enough job that 2-1-3 was hands-off at the scene. But when it comes to a possibly time-critical issue of FF safety, like possible hazmat unrecognized until VERY late (!), that's a call that needs to go out unhindered (although it would be really gutsy for oh, say, a mere Battalion Chief to make...)

[@marksellinger3736]

Its been 11+ years since this fire. I have to wonder if that 1982 Seagrave 85 foot is still in service (as a reserve)

[@BryanwithingtonFire]

Excellent video and great audio. Thank you for your hard work.

[@ope7734]

Thanks for the great Video & I love the audio's.

[@brianlevy9530]

WHO OWNS THE WAREHOUSE ON NELSON???

[@organsound]

In an 5 - 11 fire, what does the 11 stand for?

[@aportman58]

Following already one major collapse it makes me nervous at 29:44 firefighters remaining in what appears to be an area subject to collapse vulnerability.

[@freeamericausa1]

Many times there are several chiefs on the scene, and one must become command..or..IN CHARGE overall. All requests going through one chief stops much of the STEPPING ON OTHERS on the radio, and maintains some uniformity for the command.

[@briankeith4204]

What did he mean by wagon trucks just asking never heard the term before

[@joelwesterhoff17]

Question for anyone, how do those ground water cannons stay stationary at 27:40? I would think that since they are putting out so much force that they would be going everywhere.

[@911Dox]

+Joel Westerhoff Portable ground monitors are engineered & machined so the hydraulic pressure is directed straight downward through the center of the base plate, causing the cleats to grab into the asphalt/ground. Most ground monitors will have longer rear legs that helps to distribute the rearward force being exerted on the mount. The weight of the charged lines connecting to the monitor along with the weight of a firefighter or two & that monitor won't budge. If the monitor is operating at it's maximum limits, sandbags on the legs are advised It's all about design & applied physics. The customized milling starting at the intake manifold begins the process where fluid mechanics is directing & enhancing the fluid dynamics & venturi effect that takes place within the variable nozzle that directly affects the stability, versatility & effectiveness of the appliance operating at different pressures, patterns &/or flow rates. Hope this helps you understand how ground monitors operate & not go haywire the second the line is charged & the nozzle opened.

[@HimJimRimDim]

Tat damned fire just didn't want to quit. what the heck was in that warehouse ? That was one stubborn fire.

[@MJK1965]

It makes you wonder.

[@cathyc9596]

From what I gathered from another person's post, there were various items being stored in that warehouse.

[@5ivepdx]

So, did they ever say what caused this fire?

[@enid0mom]

I could easily be wrong, but I think that is the fuel truck he was requesting. Or maybe the old pick-up.

[@harrisonschmidt7596]

Great video!

[@MsJinkerson]

did you ever notice all the hoses leak at the joints

[@jerseyguy242]

The dispatch for 5 alarms is 20 fire trucks, and so on from there,

[@boataxe4605]

Please support the Chicago band 'Rival', this was their rehearsal space and they lost all their equipment!

[@METALITHrevetments]

Dies the CFD still have "Big John" and "Big Mo"?

[@ATFDFF]

Several years ago, after the “Ice Castle” fire, they ordered updated replacements!

[@pigjubby1]

Why so many alarms? What is the dispatch for each alarm?

[@cathyc9596]

They need more water, more firefighters and more equipment on the scene. The fire was getting bigger and bigger and they couldn't get a handle on it, so they needed more help.

[@glucia805]

Funny thing is the hazmat request was made by 2-1-3 the commish, through 272 the mobile command center.

[@SpprtAssoc]

What is a turret wagon?

[@zacharykeenan9827]

It looks like a flatbed truck with a fire boat's monitor. They have lots of inlets for water and can flow thousands of gallons per minute. There's a video somewhere on youtube that talks about Chicago's old wagons and they show it @28:55 here

[@tobycameron317]

Zachary Keenan Right, proper term for it is "deluge unit", 6-7-1 or 6-7-3. Although I think the chief corrected himself later and asked for a HOSE wagon instead.

[@tobycameron317]

UAL012 I didn't spot the hose wagon (I know what it does ;) but I can well imagine why it was needed) .. good eye! The radio traffic was a little confusing on the subject. I'm reviewing the video. I saw the snorkel squad and the reserve snorkel, deluge unit wasn't visible here but was in another video of this incident I found later.

[@smokeyNJ78]

tough battle, but well done

[@1885dr]

what’s a turret wagon?

[@aportman58]

I fully understand this is a difficult fire therefore remains defensive from the get-go, but it is amazing when compared to NYFD how everyone has SCBAs on (may not be breathing air but they are at least wearing them) and I have yet to see anyone at 17 minutes disembark from an engine or ladder wearing an SCBA. Not be negative, just the difference between departments.

[@tomwhite6985]

no reason to be wearing that heavy tank around for hours if it's not being used. They weren't going inside.

[@PUFCKG]

@27:05 did anyone get hurt in the collapse?. There is a real eerie silence just after it.

[@cathyc9596]

I looked up news articles and, thankfully, no one was hurt.

[@joeburros4878]

Hmmm does the city not give everyone a scba

[@fighterpilot5105]

Sounds like a pissing contest between 219 and 272...

[@freeamericausa1]

Great job Chicago! Master streams Rule.

[@Rothmann84]

what is a master stream

[@Bulldog1653]

Master stream is usually from an aerial platform like a ladder, latter tower, snorkel and it can even be from a deck gun from a pumper/ engine company. The amount of water those things throw is pretty impressive. Most ladder towers these days are capable of spraying down something like 1500 gallons a minute. It is a very impressive piece of hardware to see at work

[@Canopus68]

I have to wonder why they don't have an automatic fuel truck call. Say after you ask for a 3-11 alarm you either get fuel trucks rolling or you are asked--do you want fuel rolling. When you have that many trucks running close to flat out, you are going to need fuel fairly soon. This could be life or death if the driver gets distracted and the truck runs out before he can send a warning.

[@johannavanzyl5350]

wow what a video

[@stevenb6984]

Also, whoever owned those 2 white box vans had plenty of time to get them out before the building collapsed on them.

[@Firebuff]

Nice!

[@michaelboccino5251]

No Sprinkler system "

[@blaydCA]

"water flow alarm" It had some sprinklers, which was operating. Evidently not fully sprinklered.

[@tobycameron317]

CFD radio proceedure has requests "by the order of x-x-x" for a reason; 2-1-9 (*assistant* deputy commish according to wiki) just wasn't paying attention, and probably got his ass chewed by the Old Man, on scene and afterwards. Just because the boss is lurking while he lets you run the show doesn't mean you get to ignore him when he puts a word in...