MOVIES - July 19, 1990

Firefighters DeNiro and Russell: Robert DeNiro and Kurt Russell are getting a crash course on firefighting and arson investigation from the Chicago Fire Department. Instructors from the department’s Fire Academy are giving up to three hours of training each night to the cast of “Backdraft,” a movie about a conflict between two brothers, both firefighters, and life in an urban fire department, Fire Chief Stanley Span said. Span and his crew are currently teaching the actors techniques such as raising ladders and knocking down walls and ceilings on the Chicago movie set.