Wrigleyville Firehouse a Big Attraction for Chicago Crowd

Oct. 21--Hours before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, Cubs fans flooded West Waveland Avenue and every few minutes, like clockwork, one would stop and ask to take pictures at the historic firehouse that sits just outside Wrigley Field.

The two-story structure, built in 1915, is home to the firefighters of Engine Co. 78 and the paramedics and EMTs of Ambulance Co. 6, who've become nearly synonymous with the team and accustomed to Cubs fans of various sobriety levels.

"It's probably the most famous firehouse in the country, if not the world," said firefighter Bob King, who has worked at the Wrigleyville firehouse for nearly 24 years. "There was a guy earlier from Dallas came up to us and said 'I've seen you guys on TV my whole life and I came up and I wanted to walk into the firehouse I've always seen on WGN.' He shakes our hands and thanked us for what we do."

Moments after King recounted that story, Kenny Fell and his grandson Colby Capedville, of New Orleans, walked up and asked to take a picture.

"My friend was a firefighter and used to take a month each year to follow the Cubs around in his truck. This is for him," Fell said about the man who died responding to a scene in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Fans casually strolled into the station to take pictures of the Cubs logo fixed on the grill of the firetruck or the mural of Wrigley Field on the back wall. Even firefighter Alan Negron, who's been featured in the TV show "Chicago Fire," said the Wrigleyville firehouse gets much more attention than the film set.

And the logo is not the only baseball-themed artwork inside the firehouse. About a month ago, Negron designed a patch and T-shirt for Engine Co. 78, which features the number 78 on a baseball inside a Maltese cross and flanked by two bats.

"I designed something that went with the area and the Cubs," Negron said. "It was approved by the fire commissioner, got it made and it's gonna go on the side of our rigs too."

Cubs fans and firefighters from all over the world have stopped by to buy merchandise.

Negron, who didn't really have an allegiance to a baseball team growing up in central Michigan, quickly found himself a Cubs fan.

"I quickly learned to love them and the area. People are all hyped up about the Cubs. Hopefully, they do good," Negron said.

A New York City firehouse, Engine Co. 274, called to make a friendly wager on the Cubs-Mets series. If the Cubs win, the firehouse expects to get 25 FDNY T-shirts from the New York company, and vice versa, if the Cubs lose.

Just before game time, King, also the firehouse cook, prepared spaghetti and meatballs, but the alarm sounded as a few of the guys took their first bites. They slipped into their bunker gear and hopped into the truck, parting the sea of blue fans with lights and sirens.

After a short while they returned from a stove fire at a house nearby in time for the first inning.

"We're trying to sit and watch the game and you have to go, but it's what you have to do. Duty calls," King said.

At the top of first inning, the roar of the crowd inside Wrigley Field poured into the firehouse, much to the displeasure of some visiting firefighters such as Lt. Daniel Reichenberger, who complained about the TV broadcast's 11-second delay.

"Would you quiet down out there!" Reichenberger said jokingly, looking toward the stadium from the kitchen.

Minutes later, fans started up a "Let's go Cubbies" chant.

"I gotta feel the passion," Reichenberger said, leaving the table to go outside.

The firehouse is home to die-hard Cubs fans. One firefighter who recently retired got a Cubs World Series tattoo a few seasons ago, King said. Unfortunately, that year the Cubs missed the playoffs by a long shot.

"He got a lot of grief for it," King said, chuckling.

It's not the first time they have jumped the gun.

A photo on the back wall shows firefighters holding a banner that reads "The Official Firehouse of the 1984 World Series."

Though the firefighters were hopeful, the Cubs were stopped just short of a World Series that year, losing to the San Diego Padres 3-2 in the NLCS.

"The firemen are jinxing the Cubs, not the goat," King said jokingly.

tbriscoe@tribpub.com

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