Schaumburg Fire Department fought an extra alarm fire at 1221 Crabtree

Lane a little before noon today. Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village,

Rolling Meadows and Hanover Park fire departments assisted Schaumburg

Fire Department.

Two oncoming trains hit a minivan in Hinsdale at the Washington Street crossing.

Franciszek Chudzik, 72, made a left turn at the Washington Street crossing onto the third line of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line that is used by Metra at about 5:42 p.m. Monday. Bystanders yelled for the man to get out of his 1996 Plymouth minivan, which he exited shortly before his unoccupied vehicle was hit by an eastbound Metra train. Thirty-five seconds later the minivan was hit again by a westbound Metra train. The second impact caused the minivan to burst into flames.

View Larger Map of Hinsdale railroad crossing where two Metra commuter trains hit a minivan.

Debris from the crash broke two windows at the Hinsdale Metra station, hit nearby automobiles and was strewn as far as Garfield Avenue.

Chudzik appeared to be intoxicated and was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol content greater than .08. He was also charged with trespassing on railroad property.

Longer version from Hinsdale Police Squad Car 32.

“Once, when excavating the house of a medieval sailor on the coast of the Red Sea in Egypt, I found a still-preserved reed mat in front of a door. Under the doormat was a wooden key with the name of the owner painted on it. It was an extraordinary sense of connection with the last person to walk out of that building 700 years ago.”

– Fred Hiebert
Archaeologist and National Geographic Fellow

Santana Featuring Chad Kroeger
Into the Night

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Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay …

Upon arrival firefighter reports: “Invalid up on the second floor!” Just under 6 minutes later there is a flashover.

OCT 15 2002 1300 C– Video of on-scene arrival, lead-outs, ventilation, pike pole, ladder operations to second-floor windows and to the roof. Flashover occurs with victim and Summit Fire Department firefighters inside home at 5339 South 72nd Court [MAP/SAT] Firefighters were about approaching the victim on the second floor when the fire flashed over and forced firefighters to dive down the stairs and role out the front door and then down the outdoor steps.

Part 2: Ceiling of first floor shown burning after flashover/backdraft emergency, then second floor dormer and window ignites, then victim recovery out of another second floor window.

Keyword: Backdraft

View Larger Map of accident scene of the deaths of Jessica Uhl and Kelli Uhl after collision with Illinois State Police Car …

Jessica Uhl, 18, and her sister, Kelli Uhl, 13, both of Collinsville, Illinois were killed in a crash with an Illinois State Trooper squad car about noon Friday, November 23, 2007. The Illinois State Trooper squad was enroute at a high rate of speed to a report of an accident with entrapment. The police squad car, driven by Illinois State Police Trooper Matt Mitchell, was cut off by another vehicle. Matt Mitchell, 29, lost control of his 2006 Chevrolet Impala cruiser and crossed the median — hitting an oncoming, westbound white Mazda sedan driven by Jessica Uhl. The collision caused a fully-involved fire in the Mazda. The sisters had just left a holiday family photo session.

An accident reconstruction investigation report to the coroner’s jury concluded that the trooper was traveling at 126 mph when he lost control of his vehicle and had slowed to 102 mph when he hit the sister’s white Mazda sedan. The trooper, who spent one month in the hospital with leg injuries, may face reckless homicide charges.

Trooper Matt Mitchell was originally westbound when he received the call to respond to an  accident in Mascoutah. Mitchell had to drive westbound two miles to turn around, then would have driven eastbound 4 miles east on Interstate-64 to the Illinois Route 4 exit, and then another six miles to reach the Mascoutah accident scene at Illinois Route 4 and Stein Road — a total of 12 miles [MAP showing Interstate 64,  Route 158 and Route 4/Regional MAP/SAT Closeup].

A radio call about 6 minutes before the collision announced either a “disregard” or a “slow-down” (a standard announcement that life safety issues are resolved or non-existent and do not require excessive response speed). Even without the “slow-down” announcement, many experts and politicians are on record saying that speeds approaching 100 mph are reckless and improper — “embarrassing” … “inherently negligent.”

Trooper Matt Mitchell has been involved in two previous on-duty crashes — one crash resulted in a $1.7 million judgment.

Deputy coroner Curtis Schildknecht, who presided over the inquest, limited some questioning, such as where Trooper  Matt Mitchell was when he received the emergency call and whether he heard the “disregard” or “slowdown” announcement regarding the Mascoutah accident scene.