myersfirephotos
Myers Fire Photos
If you live in Chicago, visit or have traveled on the Chicago expressways then you would have to be blind
to not notice the lime colored wreckers, with a large IDOT and Minutemen logo painted on them patroling
the very busy expressways that travel through and around the city of Chicago. I always wanted to get
photos of the Minutemen heavy duty wreckers but they are hard to get due to the fact that when they hit
the road, they are on there way to a wreck and the traffic will be backed up big time. Well I finally received
the chance to photograph the big work horses of the IDOT fleet, I thought it would be a great idea to do a
story on Chicago's Emergency Traffic Patrol. Most motorist don't realize the large amount of duties and
responsiblities that the Minutemen carry out every day so let's take a look at the equipment and what it is
used for.
The IDOT operates over thirty-five of these Emergency Patrol Vehicles (EPV's). The EPV's are
the backbone of the Minutemen fleet and are made up of an International chassis with a
custom B+B Industries 1485 Signature Series wrecker body. This wrecker allows the operator
to safely remove a vehicle from traffic without getting out of the cab. Several of the older EPV's
are being replaced with the new International 4400 series chassis. The trucks are equipped with
every tool and supply you can think of including fire & police radios and there is a reason for
that. The EPV's perform the following duties on a daily basis, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Patrol 79 centerline miles or 718 lane miles including ramps on all 7 of Chicago's major
expressways.
- Perform First-Responder duties at accident scenes (EPV's are usually first on the scene).
- Assist in extrication of injured.
- Assist State Police in traffic control and lane changes.
- Remove vehicles from the traffic lanes asap to a safe location.
- Restore traffic flow asap.
- Assist motorist with disabled vehicles (flat tire, overheat, out of gas, etc) at no charge. If
unable to repair, vehicle will be towed to a safe location where a private towing company will
be called.
- Assist supervisors with setting up emergency detours.
- Assist supervisors with changing the flow direction of the express lanes twice a day.
- Clear road debris from the traffic lanes.
The EPV's are supervised by eleven 4x4 Supervisory vehicles. The patrol area is divided into 12
patrol assignments.
The Chicago expressways have a very large amount of Semi traffic which also means there are a
large amount of semi wrecks, lost loads and debris in the roadway. This is why the IDOT fleet has
a large amount of equipment to handle these types of emergencies. The Minutemen operate the
following heavy duty wreckers.
- Unit 920 is a 1987 Peterbuilt / Challenger 50 Ton Wrecker.
- Unit 921 is a Volvo - Autocar 6x6 / Challenger 60 Ton Rotator Wrecker.
- Unit 922 is a 1989 International / Challenger 50 Ton Rotator Wrecker.
- Unit 923 is a 1987 Autocar / Challenger 60 Ton Wrecker. (1st 60 Ton wrecker produced by
Challenger).
These large wreckers have been involved in many rescue operations, assisting the fire department.
Besides the EPV's and Heavy Duty Wreckers, the Minutemen also had several other pieces of
equipment that play an important role in keeping traffic moving safely.
- Unit 916 is a 1992 Chevy Step Van / Mobile Command & Equipment Support Unit. This truck
carries all types of radios, tools, SCBA, Recovery Equipment including Air Bags for Semi recovery.
- Unit 918 is a 1989 GMC / Sand Truck.
- Many support vehicles.

The Minutemen busy at a Fire Muster...
All operations are run out of the Emergency Traffic Patrol headquarters which is a state of the art
building located south of Chicago's loop, just off the Dan Ryan expressway.
If you have ever been stranded on one of Chicago's very busy and many times scary expressways
then you know how good it feels when you look in your rear view mirror and see a EPV pulling up
behind you. These guys are friendly and very well trained.
They work closely with many of the private Towing & Recovery Companies that the State Police
call once the Minutemen have done there jobs.
As you can now see, these guys have a big job to do and it's much bigger then assisting stranded
motorist.



Thanks, Dan Myers...