I was about to lay down and take a nap on the 19th of September when I heard Sullivan Fire Department get dispatched to a van on fire, on EB I-44 near the 224 mile marker. Onyx and I headed west on the South Service Road and discovered the van even with Ditch Witch, so I parked next to a Crawford County Deputy at the log church next door and walked across the grassy area over to the van on the shoulder, finding the drivers side rear tire on fire extending to the cargo area of the van. Sullivan Fire Pumper 854 had to go west and then turn around at Crawford Electric to return moments later…

I was strongly considering going to bed and watching my Captain America movie about 11 pm on Sept 2nd, when the tones dropped for Sullivan Fire Department and my plans changed fast. They were directed to respond to a report of flames showing to the rear of Walmart, so Onyx and I headed that way, parking near Snap Fitness and walking across the grass to where firefighters were about to spray down a large area of pallets of cardboard boxes that were stacked two high and fully involved…..

…here you see Firefighter Davey Sumpter on the hoseline….

…and then joined by Captain Dave Konys to back him up on the line, waiting for additional firefighters to arrive….

…firefighters had their hands full trying to put enough water on the boxes to extinguish this fire, especially the way they were tightly packed together, similar to fighting and extinguishing round hay bales stacked together…

…the great scene lighting provided by Sullivan PD allowed me to get some great extra photos of the firefighters until the big flashlight could be activated on top of the pumper…

…I left soon after, and as Walmart personnel were moving in with a forklift to separate the pallets of boxes, making things easier on firefighters in terms of putting the fire completely out. 

I was on my way back home from working and mowing at Mom`s house when I smelled smoke as I approached the Elmont Road Bridge over I-44, smelled like a house on fire, however I couldn`t see any smoke in the sky anywhere. As I made the turn to go across the bridge, I heard and then saw Bourbon Engine 60 coming eastbound on I-44 and exit at the overpass in front of Cracker Barrell, turn and come down my way and then take off south on Elmont Road. I followed at a safe distance and saw them turn down behind City Hall…on the way I contacted Jim Bartle and he told me there was a  house fire on Donald Street. I arrived on scene shortly behind Bourbon and found the initial Sullivan crew resting up outside after knocking down the main body of fire inside the older home….

It was obvious there was still some heat and fire inside the house from the front room to the back wall, as I walked around the house to photograph it from a few angles…Chief Eric and Deputy Chief Larry were behind the house keeping an eye on the roofline…

Bourbons crews went inside to help with overhaul and Firefighter Jordan climbed up the ladder at the back of the house to assist crews inside the residence…

Sullivan and Bourbon crews did an excellent job of knocking down the fire and overhauling later, saving the entire structure. 

I heard the tones drop for the Fire Department just after midnight on the 22nd of August…Onyx and I were awake watching tv, so we headed down the Service Road to the west and pulled into the church parking lot behind Chief Eric. I walked over to the eastbound shoulder of I-44 and then down the shoulder to the front of the pumper, talked with Chief Eric and photographed the tractor trailer on its side…

…the crews were walking around the trailer making sure there were no hazards with it, while the driver was already inside the ambulance. I moved over to the other side of the truck for a better view after the crews pointed out the billboard sign in front of the truck….