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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, On Monday, December 6, 2004, the Chicago Fire
3 Department dispatched more than one-third of its firefighting
4 force to the LaSalle National Bank, a 45-story high-rise
5 building located at 135 South LaSalle Street, to fight a
6 fierce, large-scale fire which had broken out on the building's
7 29th floor; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The fire burned for five and a half hours, and
9 despite the intensity of the blaze, no fatalities occurred; 39
10 people, including 24 firefighters, were hospitalized with
11 injuries that were not life threatening; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Fire Commissioner Cortez
13 Trotter, the Chicago Fire Department's recently revised
14 "High-Rise Incident Command Policy" places a premium on search
15 and evacuation in high-rise fires; 50 to 75 firefighters are
16 assigned to rapid ascent teams whose job in a high-rise fire is
17 to locate and evacuate building occupants; these teams
18 conducted three sweeps of the LaSalle National Bank building
19 looking for trapped persons before firefighters expanded their
20 firefighting efforts to include both of the building's
21 stairwells and turned their attention exclusively to fighting
22 the fire; and
 
23     WHEREAS, A critical feature of the Chicago Fire
24 Department's newly-revised "High-Rise Incident Command Policy"
25 is its emphasis on improved communications between building
26 occupants, 911 dispatchers, and firefighters, and on better
27 coordination between fire department personnel and building
28 management; when put to the test, the Chicago Fire Department's
29 innovative new plan for fighting high-rise fires averted what
30 could have been a deadly disaster on December 6, 2004; and
 
31     WHEREAS, Several firefighters who responded to the call

 

 

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1 were treated for injuries, including Assistant Deputy Fire
2 Commissioner Thomas Donnellan, Battalion Chief James Carroll,
3 Captain John Collins, Firefighter James Gorman, Captain James
4 Clarke, Captain Arthur Lewis, Lieutenant Robert Walters,
5 Lieutenant Ronald Michi, Firefighter Frank Perez, Firefighter
6 Martinez Chapman, Firefighter Patrick McCauley, Firefighter
7 Anthony Consola, Firefighter William Hopkins, Firefighter
8 Anthony Tobar, Firefighter/EMT Michael McLaughlin, Firefighter
9 Larry Paller, Firefighter Tim Bailey, Firefighter Mark Jadwin,
10 Firefighter Steve Magana, Firefighter Gerald Barry,
11 Firefighter William Vaci, Candidate Firefighter James Gorman,
12 Candidate Firefighter Anthony Serritella, and Candidate
13 Firefighter Victor Lecodet; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Fire Commissioner Cortez Trotter and the members
15 of the Chicago Fire Department that worked to rescue the
16 workers in the LaSalle National Bank building are to be
17 commended for their efforts; therefore, be it
 
18     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20 we thank Fire Commissioner Cortez Trotter and the many
21 firefighters who responded to the call on December 6, 2004, for
22 their efforts in saving lives and fighting the LaSalle National
23 Bank building fire; and be it further
 
24     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
25 presented to the Chicago Fire Department as an expression of
26 our respect and esteem.