Another fire at a dollar store has taken place. This one happened on September 12th at Jackson and Kedzie. The building was constructed with lightweight materials, and I believe this same mall had a major fire several years back as well. The location was tricky to access because it's right next to a large CTA bus barn and the Eisenhower Expressway, which created a major traffic jam. At the height of the fire, we had TL 5, TL 14, Squad 2, Engine 44’s deck gun, 661, the turret wagon, and the hose wagon all responding.
Squad 2’s Snorkel was caught in a fireball when part of the roof collapsed, and the crew was slightly injured. The rig became stuck and couldn’t move. They used the winch from the pie-wagon piece of Squad 2 to try to pull the Snorkel away from the building — an unusual and intense operation to witness. The photo of the reserve Snorkel and the new TL 14 shows the oldest and newest rigs working side by side — pretty cool. All the images and video are available for viewing here.