By Frank S. Abderholden
Lake County News-Sun
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. — A photograph of firefighters folding an American flag outside a fire-damaged Libertyville home turned heads on social media Wednesday.
The scene unfolded Tuesday -- just one day after Americans celebrated the country’s independence -- when a fire started at a house in the 500 block of Fairhill Road about 2 p.m., Libertyville Fire Lt. Greg Gratz said.
Outside the home, Grayslake firefighter/paramedics Mike Higgins, Ian Mandigo and Ryan Schaefer removed a flag from the front of the home.
Countryside Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Steingart told the men -- all members of the Rapid Intervention Team on scene in case someone gets trapped or injured fighting the fire -- to take down a flag because it was in the way, Higgins said.
“It was right at the front door, and that was the main ingress and egress for the firefighters,” Higgins said.
“Out of respect for the flag, we started to fold it,” he said. “I don’t remember where I learned how to do it, maybe at other events or maybe it was Boy Scouts, I don’t know.”
“We had it nice and tight, we all knew how to fold it,” Higgins said of the final fold, which gets tucked into the flag itself. “We wanted to give it back to the homeowner that way. (We) always try and save as much as we can.”
Photographer Jeff Rudolph, of Box Alarm Photography, said he went to take pictures of the scene and posted the photo of the firefighters folding the flag on Facebook.
The photo received more than 1,500 likes and 610 shares.
“Yes, this has gone crazy,” Rudolph said.
The 52-year-old said he had worked as a firefighter in Skokie for 30 years and now works part-time for the Lake Villa Fire Protection District.
Rudolph said he started Box Alarm Photography four years ago “as a place to show my photos.”
“I’ve been shooting fire scenes for years as a hobby, and a way of documenting what we all do every day,” he said.
“They could have left it hanging and it probably would have gotten torn down by crews walking in and out or they could have removed it and just balled it up and set it somewhere, but they knew the respect the flag deserved.
“They went the extra step to show it dignity and pride as well as respect. In a day and age when many disrespect our flag for many causes, the members of our nation’s fire service always respect and honor what that flag means.”
Rudolph’s thoughts echoed some of the online comments for the picture, which were short and to the point.
“Awesome,” “good job boys” and “Class Act!,” some users wrote.
Rudolph simply wrote: “God Bless America.”
Gratz said no residents or firefighters were injured during the blaze, but an investigator suffered heat exhaustion and was treated at the scene.
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(c)2016 the Lake County News-Sun (Lake County, Ill.)