BELOVED CHICAGO FIRE CHIEF, ILLINOIS FIRE INSTRUCTOR RAY HOFF PASSES AWAY

Ray Hoff was a third-generation member of the Chicago Fire Department. During the past 103 years 3 generations of the Hoff family have actively served on the Chicago Fire Department.

– Grandfather: Joseph Hoff served on the Chicago Fire Dept from 1908 until his death in 1936 and was a Captain with Truck 50 ,

– Father: Thomas Hoff was a Battalion Chief and Assistant Drillmaster at the Chicago Fire Academy when he died in the line of duty on February 14, 1962 (structural collapse during an apartment building fire)

– Brother: Current Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff

– Numerous cousins, brother-in-law and nephew in the fire service

Ray Hoff Chicago Fire Department (1965-1997):

– Firefighter (1965-1973): Rescue Squad 8, Engine 45 and Truck 15

– Lieutenant (1973-1980): Fire Prevention Bureau, 1^st Division Relief, Truck 21

– Captain (1980-1993): Truck 10, On March 16, 1993, Hoff was the first-in truck company officer to respond to the Paxton Hotel Fire and was responsible for the placement of ladders and in aiding rescue operations. The absence of smoke alarms and fire detection equipment in the hotel allowed the fire to advance rapidly before firefighters arrived on scene. Chicago Firefighters faced swiftly deteriorating conditions during search and rescue operations and successfully rescued dozens of residents from the fire, but twenty residents died in the blaze. For the remainder of his life, Ray Hoff drew upon his first hand experiences at the fire to develop detailed classroom lectures that shared valuable lessons learned from the fatal fire by analyzing the building structure, the fire spread, and the firefighting and search and rescue tactics.

– Battalion Chief (1993-1997): 4^th Battalion

Served on the Topinabee (Michigan) Fire Department after his retirement from Chicago Fire Department and was Chief of the department at the time of his death.

Field Staff Instructor, Illinois Fire Service Institute (1992-2011)

– One of the original members of the State Firefighter Certification Committee commissioned by the Illinois State Fire Marshal to develop the Illinois State Fire Service Certification program (late 1970’s)

– Courses taught include:

o Certified Firefighter II Recruit Academy;

o Saving Our Own;

o Tactics and Strategy;

o First-In Officer;

o RIT Under Fire;

o Truck Company Operations;

o Fireground Officer School

Ray translated his lifetime of experience on the fireground to practical common sense instruction for all firefighters . In his own words, he said:

“I have used my experiences as a training tool to make impact in our classes of officer and firefighter training. The size-up process is a process which you take a look at the structure, the fire condition, smoke conditions, the type of the construction of the building, the type of fire behavior in that construction, and you pick a plan and go to work. And you commit personnel and equipment to closeness and interior operations based on that knowledge.

What we stress is that, in your size-up, that you read the building, read the smoke, read the fire. That you “B.A.G.” it: which is an acronym for figuring out where the fire’s Been, where it’s At, and where it’s Going. Then you set your strategy and tactics in place. Then you start that whole evaluation process over again. And you train the company officers and firefighters to be more aware of their surroundings, and when they discover things as they open up walls and ceilings, to feed that new information back into the system, so that reevaluations and judgments can be updated.”

Ray Hoff made every firefighter he trained better for the knowledge he shared, the passion he had for being a firefighter and for the compassion and humility he had as a human being. We will all miss him.

PREVIOUS ON FireFighterCloseCalls.com: Retired Battalion Chief Ray Hoff, Chicago Fire Department, nationally known Fire Instructor and former Chief of the Topinabee (Michigan) VFD very sadly passed away today. More information will be posted on our home page as it becomes available.

The very much loved and popular Ray was a field instructor for the Illinois Fire Service Institute, is a veteran FDIC Instructor as well as being an independent instructor who absolutely loved teaching. Ray is a third generation Firefighter and is the Brother of Chicago Fire Commissioner Bob Hoff.

Those who had the opportunity to be involved in any of his classes and programs not only gained a wealth of knowledge, but was treated to the entertainment of the absolute "best of the best" Chicago FD war stories. Ray spent over 40 years on the fire line and retired from the Chicago Fire Department as a Battalion Chief of the 4th Battalion. The movie Backdraft was loosely based on Ray and Bobby whose father, Chief Thomas Hoff died in the Line of Duty.

Ray, as many will remember, was the first due Truck Company Officer at the infamous PAXTON HOTEL fire that killed over 20 people*

Our condolences to the Hoff Family as well as all of Ray’s family and friends throughout the world on the loss of a great guy who absolutely made a difference to so many. Rest In Peace.

*ABOUT The Paxton Hotel Fire in Chicago on March 23, 1993:

First arriving CFD companies were, within moments, faced with residents hanging from windows on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the hotel. Residents on the 1st floors were trapped in their rooms due to burglar bars. Within minutes every ground ladder available was being thrown to rescue residents on the upper floors. Nearly all initial fire resources were focused on making rescues, and over 100 rescues were made

WATCH VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYEjatUwSf8

BASIC DETAILS & VIDEO INFO:

HERE: http://www.chicagofirevideo.com/products/paxton/details.html

AND HERE: http://www.fire-police-ems.com/misc/dc2142.shtml

Contact Info