It was a cold Wednesday evening when Chicago firefighters rushed to respond to a fire at Andy’s Deli, located at 5442 North Milwaukee Avenue. Upon arrival, the first responding units discovered flames engulfing the commercial space. However, securing a water supply turned out to be quite the challenge due to multiple frozen hydrants in the vicinity. This initial difficulty prompted a shift to a more defensive strategy partly because of concerns regarding the structural integrity of the roof. Consequently, a 2-11 Alarm was called in.
Two tower ladders and Squad 2’s Snorkel worked diligently, applying water from their elevated buckets, while Truck 55 positioned its mainline in the air, deploying a master stream. In a strategic move, a special request was made for the Mobile Ventilation Unit (9-2-3), housed at Engine 106’s station. Once deployed in Sector 1, the MVU played a crucial role in pushing the fire towards the rear and through the roof, creating an opening that allowed firefighters to tackle the blaze more effectively, given that much of the roof remained intact.
Steve Redick and Larry Shapiro both captured the intense firefighting efforts. Larry Shapiro’s gallery of images offers a vivid glimpse into the chaos and determination displayed by the firefighters. For those interested, a link to his image gallery can be found here. Similarly, Steve Redick’s gallery of photographs is available here.
The situation on the ground was challenging, with Engine 119 finding itself at one end of the alley near Menard, dealing with blocked sewers and accumulating water. Engine 83 brought Light Wagon 9-1-3 to the scene, a standard practice for 2-11 alarms, and eventually positioned it in Sector 1 to provide enhanced visibility for directing handlines into the building from the sidewalk.
As the operation wound down, firefighters faced another hurdle—frozen hoses. Many crews struggled to remove these rigid hoses from the buildings and onto the engines, requiring significant effort to repack them with fresh hose. Some even had to prop frozen sections over the tops of the engines for safe transport back to the station.
The entire incident highlighted the resilience and adaptability of the Chicago Fire Department under extreme conditions. Despite the challenges posed by frozen equipment and limited water access, the team managed to contain and extinguish the fire efficiently. It was a reminder of the dedication and skill required in such high-stakes scenarios.
1..Easy and flexible full hydraulic control The rig's speed, torque, thrust axial pressure, reverse axial pressure, thrust speed, and lifting speed can be adjusted at any time to meet the requirements of different drilling tool working conditions and different construction processes
2.Top-drive slewing propulsion lift It is easy to connect and disconnect the drill pipe, shorten the auxiliary time, and also facilitate drilling with the pipe.
3.Multifunctional drilling Various drilling processes can be used on this rig, such as: down-the-hole drilling, through-air reverse circulation drilling, gas lift reverse circulation drilling, cutting drilling, roller drilling, tube drilling, and Core drilling under development and more. The drilling rig can be equipped with mud pumps, foam pumps and generators according to user needs. The rig is also equipped with various hoists as standard.
4.High efficiency Due to the full hydraulic and top-drive slewing propulsion lifting, it is suitable for various drilling processes and various Drilling Tools, with convenient and flexible control, fast drilling speed and short auxiliary time, so the operation efficiency is high.