Major fire hits Illinois casino

grumpy grizzly

grumpy grizzly

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Joliet Illinois firefighters  are faced with a major structure fire at the Empress River Casino.Firefighters are mampered by the type of building construction and a lack of water supply. Tankers are being used to supply water for aerial attacks on the fire. Building has multiple voids allowing for spread of the fire. This fire is very doubtful at this time. Officials of the casino acknowledge that this could be a total loss if firefighters cannot make a final and desperate stop to contain the fire.
 
Here's some video of the fire.  The roof collapses about 36 seconds into the video:

http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/2009/03/update-on-empress-casino-fire-in-joliet.html


I find it interesting that the folks there are complaining about a lack of water supply, and are using tankers.  The casino is ON the DesPlains river, as you can see in the first part of the video.  AND . . the Coast Guard responded (on the river) to the scene.  What ever happened to the idea of drafting??? ???
 
I was wondering the same thing about drafting after hearing about water supply problems and seeing the river.  Unfortunately I think drafting for many departments has become a lost art or at least something they forget about one it could be beneficial.  In this case that river certainly looks like a good draft source and is very close to the fire.  Of course it's always easy to manage something like this after it's happened.
 
I work for a package delivery company and I have made several deliveries here. Yes the casino itself is on the river but it is a moored barge. Legal issues. Access to the river is very difficult and there are not many access sites. The entire site is set back about 1/2 mile from the main road. In addition one side is below grade for access to loading docks so any aerial devices would be compromised by 20 feet. This fire would have taxed the rescources of any major department. Chicago lost a major convention center in the sixties and I beleive that site was on the lake. cfd123 can correct me if I am wrong. Also there was such a demand on the water system that several water mains collapsed. ;D
 
thats a little before my time lol, and i dont know much about the joliet area for why they didnt draft... i do know that one of the major problems with this fire was that joliet refused to call for help from other MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm Systems) departments which hindered both manpower and the equipment that they had on scene. fire started about 10:00 A.M. and they finally asked for help sometime after 12:00. for along time when the fire was on the news they only had one ladder pipe working with fire through the roof. pissing on a forest fire if u ask me.

I am also not sure what type of equipment that joliet has to be able to work with...
 
grumpy grizzly said:
Chicago lost a major convention center in the sixties and I beleive that site was on the lake. cfd123 can correct me if I am wrong. Also there was such a demand on the water system that several water mains collapsed. ;D
Click to expand...
The fire you are referring to was at Mccormick Place and it occurred January 16, 1967.  There were many problems with the fire, delayed notification, many flammable materials, no sprinklers, etc. in addition 4 of the 7 fire hydrants on the site were turned off.  The fire went to five alarms within 30 minutes and took over 7 hours to extinguish.  And actually CFD did draft water from Lake Michigan to fight the Mccormick Place fire.  Here's a link to an interesting article about that fire: Mccormick Place fire
 
The sprinkler system in the Empress Casino pavilion had been temporarily turned off the day a major fire destroyed the building according to a city building inspector. In addition the pavilion's fire doors were out of service as part of the renovation project. Such moves are not unusual for a building project under construction. Crews had a firewatch in effect but when a welder ignited grease in aduct the firewatch could not contain it. :-X
 
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