Edward Altman’s baptism as fire commissioner was so fiery that they had to call in 200 firefighters and close an expressway.
In a scene recalling the professional baptism of Police Supt. Matt Rodriguez, who was named the city’s top cop on the day of the disastrous 1992 Loop flood, Altman was called out Thursday night to the city’s worst fire in a year.
He had been on the job a week and one day.
The five-alarm fire, at a warehouse on the Southwest Side, was complete with explosions, 100-foot flames and flying embers “the size of footballs,” according to one firefighter.
It was good experience for Altman’s new post.
Altman, 59, is taking over as Chicago Fire Commissioner at a time when several fires are blazing within his own department.
His firefighters have been without a contract for more than two years. The firefighters union is fractured by racial strife. And the head of the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee is pushing for firefighters to work more regular hours.
But such headaches are nothing new to Altman, who has been the department’s No. 2 man for the last 14 years. He said his biggest concern about the new job is not resolving contract negotiations or placating aldermen.
Rather, Altman said he is worried about how he will divvy up the budget to his departments.
“A lot of this is second nature,” he said. “But until now I always had someone to blame: the guy above me.”
Altman, who has served as acting commissioner since November 1996, was selected Sept. 10 by Mayor Richard Daley. There was no national search, though Altman said several resumes, including his own, were submitted for consideration.
His selection, which still must be approved by the City Council, was praised by firefighters and union officials, many of whom said Altman had already proven himself a dependable leader.
“Eddie’s been the No. 2 guy for many years, so he’s very capable of running the fire department,” said Dan Fabrizio, president of the Chicago Fire Fighters Union.
Fire Lt. Charles Vazquez, head of the Latino Firefighters Union, said, “We think it’s great that he finally got the job full-time.
“He needs to pull the department together,” Vazquez said. “There’s kind of a morale problem right now.”
Altman’s ascension to fire commissioner comes after a 32-year career that began by chance. A native of the Southeast Side, Altman was working as a free-lance magazine photographer in 1965 when he got an assignment to take pictures of firefighters.
Altman said it was a precarious time economically for magazine publishing, so he jumped when one of the firefighters suggested he take the fire exam. He rose through the ranks until he was named first deputy in 1984, the department’s No. 2 job.
As fire commissioner, Altman said he is taking over a department that has changed dramatically in the last decade or so. For instance, from 1985 to 1995, the number of structure fires had dropped from 9,545 to 6,432, while the number of calls for service has soared to 170,586 from 91,508.
Also, Altman said, the department has been making advances in diversification. It is now comprised of 30 percent minorities, compared to about 18 percent in the early 1980s.
“I know the goal is to equalize the population figures, but when you have a department the size of this, you can’t do it overnight,” he said. “We’ve kept this steady process going.”
But the department–with about 4,200 firefighters and 600 paramedics–has just 228 women on the force. Altman pointed out that Chicago has not seen an exodus of women firefighters/paramedics as have other cities, and he noted that the department has one woman captain and five lieutenants.
“There is a career here for them,” he said. “We don’t want to lose sight of the fact that it’s a blue-collar job. When there’s a fire, it’s very labor intensive.
“If that’s the type of job a woman wants, we welcome them.”
Altman said he is optimistic that contract negotiations with the union may finally be resolved, though he and union officials declined to talk about specifics.
Altman said there was little he could do to resolve the racial tensions in the union. Minorities are outraged that the union filed a lawsuit to block the city’s practice of promoting out of order to achieve racial balance.
Altman also said the department was studying a proposal by Ald. William Beavers (7th) that firefighters work five days a week, eight hours a day. Currently, firefighters work 24 hours on duty, 48 hours off.
But he said most firefighters would be opposed to Beavers’ new schedule, which he predicted would be cost-prohibitive because it would require more overtime pay.
