Retired chief says CFD has special tool that could have been used to fight Kenwood high-rise fire, but wasn't
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A massive high-rise fire killed one person and injured nine others in the Kenwood neighborhood late last month.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey has been digging into why some firefighters say the Chicago Fire Department has a special tool to fight this type of blaze - but they didn't use it.
It is a tool that taxpayers have already paid for.
One recently-retired CFD battalion chief shared his high-rise fire checklist with Hickey — pointing out that a device called the HERO (Highrise Emergency Response Offensive) pipe isn't listed on this checklist of equipment for fires like the one we saw in Kenwood.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Fire Department confirmed they do already own the pipe — but the crews on the scene of the fire at the Harper Square Cooperative did not believe it was appropriate.
"You can call it Monday morning quarterback, but I'll tell you what - it's not a football game," said retired CFD battalion chief Jerry Hughes. "This is firefighting."
Hughes retired from the Chicago Fire Department in November after 35 years on the job. He comes from a long line of firefighters, who have served for the department since 1891.
That is why he was particularly upset on Wednesday, Jan. 25, when that fire broke out on the 15th floor the south tower of the Harper Square Cooperative, 4850 S. Lake Park Ave.
CFD Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt explained at the scene that day that the fire went up virtually – lapping from floor to floor and setting a blaze all the way up to floor 24.
The fire took the life of a retired schoolteacher who lived back on 15.
Hughes was concerned because he — and other firefighters who have reached out to CBS 2 — thought, "This was a textbook example of why we have what's called a HERO pipe."
He explained the special pipe that allows firefighters to spray water above the reach of the tower ladder. And while taxpayers have already spent $50,000 on one HERO pipe, Hughes says it's rarely deployed.
"Taxpayers paid a lot of money for that equipment, and it should be used when it's time to use it," Hughes said.
But a spokesperson for the CFD said the chiefs on the scene did not feel the HERO pipe was appropriate for the logistics of this case - arguing it takes too long to set up. This is the full statement from CFD spokesman Larry Langford:
"The HERO pipe requires considerable set up time and is designed for use where conditions require a robotic fire attack. This would be the case where fire is so heavy that firefighters cannot enter the area. it is not designed to chase a fire up a building exterior. It is deployed from below the fire in an area that is NOT involved in the fire. And would be used to direct water into a large open area above. It is not the first tool used in a high-rise fire… CFD would normally hook up to a stand pipe on the floor below and direct the line into the apartment from the front door after going up the stairwell. The HERO pipe is only going to shoot water into the room by the window not rooms that are separated by walls. the line taken in by firefighters can turn corners… This is the way apartment fires are stopped. In this case the wind and other forces allowed the fire to lap up to the next floor before it could be put out by the responding crew. They then were in a position of chasing the fire as it was climbing faster than they could set up a second line or move the first line to the next floor."
The CFD explained that the members of the squad unit that train on the HERO pipe concluded that it was not the right device to use in fighting the Harper Square Cooperative fire. Setup is long and moving to a new floor with the pipe is difficult – and the unless the fire were knocked down instantly, the pipe would not stop it from lapping upward, the CFD said.
A fire like the one at Harper Square Cooperative is fought with handlines from inside entering the hallway, and not from a robotically-controlled device like the HERO pipe from below, the CFD said. The HERO pipe would be more useful for a tall warehouse where the fire is so hot that firefighters can't go inside the building – and the building is also too tall for a tower ladder, the CFD explained.
Meanwhile, the inventor of the HERO pipe – also retired CFD battalion chief — says when crews are properly trained on the pipe, it takes just minutes.
He developed a simulation of the Kenwood fire to show how the pipe should be used.
Hughes, who says he has*no financial interest in the company that makes the pipe, says he is raising the red flag because he hopes training on the device becomes more regular in the future.
"People I know that were at that fire, and their lives were put at risk because we're not using the equipment that, you know, we purchased to combat these high-rise types of fires," he said.
