Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

28° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Advertisement
Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our email newsletter in your inbox.



Advertisement

Advertisement

Fire training to take place at site of Kendall College

Long used as a training ground for aspiring chefs, the former site of Kendall College will welcome a new class next week: firefighters.

The college’s site, 2408 Orrington Ave., was sold to Smithfield Properties in 2003 and is now fenced off awaiting redevelopment. It will be used for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System exercises three days each week, starting Tuesday and continuing through May 26.

MABAS Division III is a group of almost 20 North Shore fire departments that assist each other in emergencies too large to be handled by one department, said George Coit, the MABAS secretary. To facilitate cooperation among firefighters, mutual training exercises are held on a semi-annual basis.

“It’s a good way of learning how to work together and the guys getting to know each other,” Coit said. “The only reason that it’s in Evanston is that those buildings are being torn down.”

Smithfield’s plans for the site have not yet been approved by the city, but the proposal calls for demolishing the college’s existing buildings and replacing them with townhouses and single-family homes.

Smithfield first approached the Evanston Fire Department in late February and decided to allow training to take place for free, said Samuel Hunter, Evanston’s deputy fire chief.

MABAS training, including water rescue and high-angle rescue, took place in Evanston before, but this is the first time anything of this magnitude will take place in the city, said Hunter.

“It’s an unusual building that doesn’t come along for training that often,” Hunter said

Judy Fiske, a former First Ward aldermanic candidate who has tried to get the college’s administration building declared a landmark, said she was concerned about the training.

“We want to make sure there aren’t any fires set in there,” Fiske said. “We are being assured by the city that there is no damage done to the buildings and that they are being treated lightly.”

Hunter said the training will use Kendall’s old classroom buildings and dorms. No firefighters will be in the administration building.

MABAS departments combine forces between 50 and 60 times a year, Coit said. Fire departments sign contracts to provide services to each other, but no money changes hands.

The training at Kendall will involve room searches, forceable entry and entrapment, when something falls on firefighters and they have trouble getting out from under it, Hunter said.

— Greg Hafkin

More to Discover
Activate Search
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Fire training to take place at site of Kendall College