It’s January, so no matter how mild the winter has been, snow is coming.
But don’t worry, the train’s still coming, too. And so are the firetruck and ambulance, should you need them.
In the city where the river used to run the other way, drivers of the vehicles that really, really need to get through manage to overcome whatever nature throws at them.
Eventually.
“We know that the ambulance and paramedics and firefighters have to go out in severe weather. That’s part of the risk of the job,” said John Kennedy, executive director of defensive driving courses for the National Safety Council, which prepares the courses emergency vehicle drivers take. “But the main thing we emphasize is slowing down.”
That message is taken to heart in the classrooms where the Coaching for Emergency Vehicle Operators courses are taught. Instructors at Superior Ambulance Service quantify the message by focusing on the so-called three-second rule, said Ken Sink, risk manager for Elmhurst-based Superior.
This rule, Sink explained, is designed to leave at least three seconds of time between your vehicle and the one in front. It’s calculated by watching that car pass a fixed object, then counting the seconds until you pass the same object.
“We instruct all our drivers to increase the cushion of safety around the entire vehicle and double the three-second rule,” Sink said. “In layman’s terms this means that drivers should reduce normal speed by one-fourth for rain, one-half for snow and three-fourths for icy surfaces or compacted snow. That’s about a 10-second gap for the icy surfaces. We instruct all our drivers, regardless of conditions, to leave enough space between the ambulance and the vehicle in front of them so the rear tires of the front vehicle are visible on the pavement.”
Though it may sound like slower driving would hinder response time, ambulance companies compensate by making more vehicles available in rough weather, so there will always be vehicles at the ready when a call comes in.
Fire departments also send out more equipment in ice and snow. Kevin McGregor, Chicago Fire Department spokesman, said the number of trucks that respond to a fire is determined by what kind of an alarm it is, for example, a box alarm is the lowest level and a 2-11 alarm is the next step up. Severe weather can cause dispatchers to rate a fire at a higher level than they would otherwise, he said.
However, even heavy snowfall doesn’t stop emergency vehicles. Jeff Dreyer, production manager for North Carolina ambulance manufacturer AEV, said no special equipment is added to the trucks customized to become ambulances, though some are built on four-wheel-drive platforms.The sheer mass and power of the vehicles gets them through, Dreyer said.
Firetrucks are even bigger and more powerful, but heavy snow can still create havoc for the fire department.
“It’s more of a problem with other cars that can’t move, because they’re blocking the streets,” McGregor said. In those instances, firefighters do whatever it takes to get to the emergency scene, he said.
“In extreme snowstorms, sometimes we get as close as we can, like to the nearest major intersections, and carry equipment from there,” he said. “We improvise. Sometimes I’ve seen firefighters with a plastic sled that they can put a hose on or other equipment on and carry it down the street.”
McGregor distinctly recalled seeing firefighters using sleds in 1979, when which 20.3 inches fell in two days on top of a base of up to 10 inches and city plows were delinquent in clearing streets. He said it usually takes such extreme conditions to stall the firetrucks.
(However, he noted that the public can help in any amount of snow by not burying fire hydrants when shoveling. And if you’re up to a little extra lifting, he said, you might want to clear a space around the hydrant.)
With the emergencies covered, there’s still the matter of getting to work.
The Chicago Transit Authority is on top of it with four diesel-powered locomotives designed clear the tracks of snow.
They’re not needed much. Trains generally run often enough to prevent any serious buildup of ice and snow in normal winters–even by the standards of normal Chicago winters.
And all 1,194 cars in service have sleet scrapers to clear the third rail, which provides the electricity to power the trains.
But when the plow trains do come out, they’re ready for action.
The “snow fighter locomotives,” as the CTA calls them, have a snow blower at one end, a rotating broom at the other and plow blades that are 3 feet wide and 10 inches thick.
The CTA is vague on how often the plow trains are needed, but outside sources estimate it’s no more than a few times a year.
A search of the Tribune archives shows that the last time winter weather crippled the CTA was in January 1999, when frigid blast was the knockout punch after a weekend blizzard. It took days for the trains to get back on schedule.
That storm caused delays of two hours and more in Metra commuter rail service. Crews had to operate the electric switches and signalsmanually.
Metra does not have anything like the CTA snow plows, spokesman Patrick Waldron said. It relies on the movement of standard trains to keep rails clear and tries to stay on schedule in inclement weather by having crews and trains ready to go ahead of time.” Metra has a snow emergency plan, the biggest component of which is moving people and equipment into place before the storm hits,” Waldron said.
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On call
The following is the description of alarms and primary equipment dispatched by the Chicago Fire Department:
STILL AND BOX ALARM (total response):
Four engines, two trucks, one tower ladder, three battalion chiefs, one deputy district chief, one squad company, one command van and one ambulance
2-11 ALARM: Add four engines, two trucks, one tower ladder, two battalion chiefs, one district chief
3-11 ALARM: Add four engines and deputy fire commissioners
4-11 ALARM: Add four engines
5-11 ALARM: Add four engines
SPECIAL ALARM: Add any additional equipment requested by the incident commander (usually five engine companies).
