WBEX.org has a detailed article explaining Chicago’s red “X†program: While walking through her Logan Square neighborhood, Chicago resident Poppy Coleman noticed something unusual: two dilapidated buildings had large red “X†signs affixed to them. Curious about what they meant, she started asking questions. Since 2012, nearly 2,000 of these red “X†signs have appeared across the city. Many residents have posted online, trying to figure out whether the mark means a building is condemned, vacant, or for sale. The program was created with good intentions — to protect firefighters and others from dangerous structures — but it has run out of funding. On December 22, 2010, firefighters were searching for squatters in a burning, long-vacant laundromat on the 1700 block of East 75th Street in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. As they continued their search, a wall collapsed, followed by the roof, killing firefighters Edward Stringer and Corey Ankum. Nineteen others were injured in the incident. “When I first became alderman, one of my first visits was to Fire Chief Mark Neilsen,†said 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein, who introduced two city ordinances in response to the tragedy. The first, passed in 2011, required the fire department to identify buildings with bowstring truss construction — a type known to be at risk of collapse during fires. Silverstein’s second ordinance aimed to identify and mark all dangerous buildings in the city. For this, the department chose the red “X†symbol, which is used by fire departments in New York City and other cities. This marking system originated from a federal program designed to flag vacant structures. Chicago doesn’t put red “X†signs on just any vacant building — it's a clear warning that a structure is unsafe and firefighters should take extra precautions when responding to emergencies there. Since the ordinance passed in June 2012, the Chicago Fire Department has placed 1,804 red “X†signs. That’s less than half of the more than 5,000 vacant properties registered in the city, which itself is only a fraction of the total number of abandoned buildings. However, CFD spokesperson Larry Langford says it's a start. “We picked 1,800 that we wanted to mark right away,†he said. At the program’s start, the Department of Buildings provided a list of structurally unsound properties for the fire department to add to as needed. The list included a few hundred buildings deemed more than 35% deteriorated. The city has largely left it up to aldermen to explain the purpose of the signs to the public. There is a process for rehabilitating vacant and abandoned properties, but owners must get special permission before working on buildings marked with a red “X.†Two years after the program began, however, only one building has been successfully repaired and had its red “X†removed legally. The program, originally meant to save lives, has now faced financial difficulties. The city received $675,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters grant program to fund the red “X†initiative. Most of that money went to local contractors AGAE Contractors and M-K Signs. WBEZ reports that the city spent all the funds over thirteen months starting in June 2012, and hasn’t added any new red “X†signs since July 2013. Thanks, Dan Seamless Pipe,Steel Line Pipe,Seamless Steel Tube,seamless tube,boiler steel tube Hydrogrand Steel Pipe Co.,ltd , https://www.hydrograndtube.com