Evanston firefighters immersed in smoke

A house in Evanston (IL) was destroyed by fire today (1/9/15). Frigid temperatures combined with an older home that had multiple dormers, add-ons, and void spaces creating a complex battle for the firefighters from several towns who came to assist at this 3-Alarm fire.

Although I arrived very late after the initial alarm and most of the flames had been contained, the fire still was in areas of the attic and walls that proved hard to access. As such, there was still quite a bit of work going on when I was there.

One interesting sequence of images that I captured inspires several witty titles …

Now you see them … Now you don’t

Stairway to heaven or …

Which way did they go?

Anyway … I watched as two Evanston firefighters immersed in smoke seemed to disappear and then reappear while on the tip of the aerial venting a section of the roof.

firemen in smoke at the tip of an aerial
Here, one of the two firefighters is visible on the ladder. Larry Shapiro photo
smoke hides firefighters on aerial ladder
Within seconds of the first image, the smoke totally obscured the firefighters from view. Larry Shapiro photo
ice encrusted fireman with saw
After finishing, the firefighters climbed back down the ladder encrusted in ice. Larry Shapiro photo