What's up with that?

Q Whether there’s actually a fire or not, the fire department seems to show up to every emergency, be it a car wreck or a choking incident. A drunk girl passed out in my alley and the fire department came. Are the boys in red just bored of sitting around the firehouse making chili? —Joe, Wicker Park

A Firefighters aren’t showing up to check on that drunk girl because they’re bored and the city’s medical-response team is busy—they are the city’s medical-response team. “Any time someone dials 911, you’re going to get a fire-department response,” says Chicago Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis. “All [reports of] injuries go to Fire and EMS [Emergency Medical Services]; in Chicago, we’re combined.” One thing they don’t do, contrary to every cartoon you’ve ever seen, is recover kittens from trees. “That’s not a true emergency,” Curtis says. If an animal is in imminent danger, however, the CFD will come to the rescue. “We do respond to animals in distress all the time—all winter long,” he says. “Sometimes [an animal will] get out there on the ice and it breaks. A dog falls in the water, we’ll come out with a scuba-diving team.”

Curious about something around town? E-mail us at chicago@timeoutchicago.com.

• More "What’s up with that?"
• More Around Town articles