Chicago Fire Department

[wschrei]

Truck Co. 15 inside the old shops

[wschrei]

Engine Co. 89 inside the old shops

[wschrei]

Old Truck Co. 24 waiting for the scrap yard

[wschrei]

Truck Co. 36

[wschrei]

Engine Co. 107

[wschrei]

Engine Co. 78

[wschrei]

Engine Co. 94

[wschrei]

Engine Co. 7

[hadg317]

[quote name='wschrei' timestamp='1340718254' post='490261']

Engine Co. 47

[/quote]

I always loved the look of these engines

[Jamie]

Love the old Federal/E-One rigs!

[Guest]

[quote name='wschrei' timestamp='1340718676' post='490270']

Engine Co. 94

[/quote]



Moving the big water.... Either the mains are bad or its one hell of a fire. Never seen that kind of evolution before....

[LeadOff]

[quote name='firetrucknut' timestamp='1340747771' post='490309']

Moving the big water.... Either the mains are bad or its one hell of a fire. Never seen that kind of evolution before....

[/quote] Some call that a "big water" or "heavy water" hook-up to max out the hydrant flow to the pumper. It works better on hydrants with dual steamers as opposed to having to use the little 2-1/2" outlets.

[Guest]

[quote name='wschrei' timestamp='1340656366' post='490137']

Engine Co. 18

[/quote]I remember buffing this fire .. It had to be 1985

[firepost]

Wschrei, those are really great shots which I have never seen before, thanks for posting them.

[firepost]

[quote name='lfdtruckie343' timestamp='1340668082' post='490185']

the squad stuff is good....any history on them?

[/quote] Truckie 343, Chicago has a long history of using Squad companies that goes back till 1913. Not only does it go far back but over the years we had different types of Squad companies and different kinds of Squad apparatus as well.

Because of the different types of Squad companies that we ran, they can be divided into different eras and functions, some of which overlapped each other.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about Chicago ran with Squad companies, Rescue companies, Snorkel Squads, Salvage Squads, Flying Manpower Squads, "District" Squads and Squad/Snorkel companies which had originally run as two piece companies then one piece companies and then went back to running as the two piece companies that Chicago is currently running with.

SInce you are referring to the Squads in the recently downloaded photos, I will try to explain them to you.

Most of the Squad photos were that of the 1979 Ford/3D Metals (box style) units.

Chicago had 4 of the 1979 Ford/C cab Squads They were put in service around October of 1980 on our new "District" Squad companies. The Chicago Fire department had replaced our 7 Fire Divisions with 5 Fire Districts in April of 1980 and part of the reorganization was to have a single piece Squad company in each of the 5 Districts. The fifth Squad company used a 1972 model Mack/Platt former Flying Manpower Squad apparatus which ran as Squad 5. In September of 1982 the 5 Districts were reorganized into 6 Districts and Districts 4 and 5 (on the south side of Chicago) became Districts 5 and 6 and the Squads assigned to those districts were also renumbered 5 and 6. The new District 4 was assigned to the West and near Southwest sides and the "new" Squad 4 was also assigned one of our 1972 Mack/Platt former Flying Manpower Squads.

Our "District" Squad companies only responded on confirmed working fires and "Special Duty" calls such as" pin in" accidents.

Prior to the establishment of the "District" Squads, our 7 Flying Manpower Squads and our one remaining Snorkel Squad would respond automatically on the initial report of a structure fire, what we call a "Still Alarm". Our 7 "Flying Manpower Squads" and our "original" Snorkel Squad 1 were taken out of service to create the new "District Squads" in October of 1980. The main reason why our Flying Manpower Squads were taken out of service was because on February 14 1980 the Chicago FIre Fighters union Local 2 called a strike that lasted 23 days.Not only did the strike ultimately result in the Chicago fire fighters first ever contract but it also restored the "fifth man" on most of our Engines and Truck companies that had been running as 4 man companies since late 1967.

In late 1967 the city had reduced the firefighters working hours however the city didn't want to hire more men so they had hired a consultant who had recommended that about 3/5 th's of our Engine and Truck companies only run with 4 men assigned to them (instead of the normal 5 men). Only the Engines and Trucks that were in your "busier" districts and in the downtown area would continue running with 5 men assigned to them. The consultant had recommended that 6 "Flying Manpower Squads" be created to respond to fires in the 4 man company districts to help compensate for the "reduced manning" on those companies. Six "Flying Manpower" Squads were created in 1969 using old Engine company apparatus. During 1971 a 7th Flying Manpower Squad was created as a follow up recommendation from the consultant.

In 1973 the CFD had assigned the Flying Manpower Squads, seven new box style Mack/Platt Squad apparatus. They were Chicago's first completely enclosed Heavy Rescue "box style" Squad apparatus As the firefighters strike had succeeded in getting the city to restore the 5th man on the 4 man Engines and Trucks there was no longer a need for our "Flying Manpower" Squads so about 6 months after the strike they were replaced in October of 1980 by the 5 "new" District Squad companies (that were numbered for the District that they were assigned to).

During September of 1982 a new 6th district was created and on September 2 a "new Squad 4" was created for the new district 4 however a year later on September 19 1983 Squads 3,4 an 5 were all taken out of service and Squads 1, 2 and 6 were relocated and made into 2 piece Squad/Snorkel companies running with three of our 75 foot Oshkosh/Pierce Snorkels as their second pieces Initially all three Squad/Snorkel companies had been running with the 1979 Ford/3 D Metal Squads as their first pieces however Squad 2 was reassigned one of the 1972/ Mack Platt Squads within a year (which had become their regular first piece) until it was replaced with a new Snorkel/Squad apparatus in 1987.

Around April of 1987 Squads 1 and 2 had received two custom built Spartan/E one 55 foot Snorkels built on special cabinet equipped Squad bodies making Squads 1 and 2 into one piece Snorkel Squads.

Squad 5 , which had been Squad 6 until they were renumbered when they were relocated to Engine 116's house in December of 1987, (was still a two piece company however they had been given the 1975 Hendrickson/Pierce 55 foot Snorkel that had originally been assigned to our "Snorkel Squad 1" from January 1976 until October 1980 when "SS 1" as it was called,was taken out of service.

Snorkel Squad 1 had been in service since September of 1962 as a two piece company and ran as our elite Heavy Rescue company. Snorkel Squad 1 was running with a small Ford Pierce box style (walk around type) Squad van from November of 1974 till October of 1980, as it's second piece however from 1962 until 1974 the second piece had always been a small International Harvester/Darley High Pressure Fog (booster type) pumper which had 2 narrow diameter reels of booster hose equipped with gun type High Pressure Fog Nozzles and a 300 gallon water tank on board.

We had two other Snorkel Squads as well but our Snorkel Squads 2 and 3 ( from the 1960's) were officially taken out of service during May of 1969. Because they had been running without Snorkels for awhile they were re/designated as Rescues 2 and 3 for the last 6 or 7 months before being taken out of service.

Around November of 1988 Squad/Snorkel 5 was given a 55 foot Spartan/E one Snorkel Squad that had matched Squads 1 and 2's rigs. A little less then a year later in 1989 Squad 5 was involved in a serious rollover accident and was a total loss so Squad 5 resumed running temporarily as a 2 piece Squad with the 1975 Hendrickson Pierce 55 foot Snorkel and a 1979 Ford/3D metals Squad van.

Some major body work was done on the Hendrickson/Pierce Snorkel so that Squad 5 also became a one piece company for a few years.

In late 1996 Squad 1 was assigned a new HME/Saulsbury , Heavy Rescue van and their 1987 Spartan/E one Snorkel was reassigned to Squad 5. From 1997 to mid 2000 Squad 1 ran without a Snorkel. Squads 2 and 5 which both were now running with identical 1987 Spartan E one 55 foot Snorkels were given 1973 and 1975 model (former) Seagrave pumpers that had their pumps removed and more cabinets added so they could run as spare Squads, but were given to Squads 2 and 5 as their "new" second pieces in 1997 as the Spartan /E one Snorkels were beginning to run top heavy due to the equipment on board so they became (once again) two piece companies.

Within a year Squad One's new Heavy Rescue was damaged in a serious accident so they were given a rebuilt 1978 American La France pumper as a temporary Spare Squad. The HME/Saulsbury was sent back to HME to have a new cab put on it and about a year later went back in service around 1999.

Fire Commissioner Edward Altman who at one time was assigned to the Original Snorkel Squad 1 had decided that CFD would continue running with Snorkel Squads on our three Squad companies that were located in the city proper. The CFD had ordered our current HME/Central States 2 piece Squad/Snorkel companies in 1999 and were put in service on our Squads 1 2 and 5 during the summer of 2000.

Squad 7 located at O"Hare International airport runs with a 2000 model Tandem rear axle Pierce Heavy Rescue Squad as it's first piece and a 2003 model Ford/Pierce mini foam pumper as it's second piece. I understand that a new Squad for O'"Hare field has been or is about to be ordered and that the city was recently advertising for bids on a new Snorkel/Rescue Squad for the city proper.

Truckie 343 as you can see our Squad history is very long and detailed and I didn't even begin to cover our original Squad companies that had run from 1913 until 1967/68 as well as our Salvage Squads that ran from 1966/67 through 1972 and our Rescue Squads that were only in service from 1929 through 1933. The Squad history that I covered here was mainly from the 1970's and 1980's until now.

[Engine504Driver]

[quote name='firepost' timestamp='1340831472' post='490435']

Truckie 343, Chicago has a long history of using Squad companies that goes back till 1913. Not only does it go far back but over the years we had different types of Squad companies and different kinds of Squad apparatus as well.

Because of the different types of Squad companies that we ran, they can be divided into different eras and functions, some of which overlapped each other.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about Chicago ran with Squad companies, Rescue companies, Snorkel Squads, Salvage Squads, Flying Manpower Squads, "District" Squads and Squad/Snorkel companies which had originally run as two piece companies then one piece companies and then went back to running as the two piece companies that Chicago is currently running with.

SInce you are referring to the Squads in the recently downloaded photos, I will try to explain them to you.

Most of the Squad photos were that of the 1979 Ford/3D Metals (box style) units.

Chicago had 4 of the 1979 Ford/C cab Squads They were put in service around October of 1980 on our new "District" Squad companies. The Chicago Fire department had replaced our 7 Fire Divisions with 5 Fire Districts in April of 1980 and part of the reorganization was to have a single piece Squad company in each of the 5 Districts. The fifth Squad company used a 1972 model Mack/Platt former Flying Manpower Squad apparatus which ran as Squad 5. In September of 1982 the 5 Districts were reorganized into 6 Districts and Districts 4 and 5 (on the south side of Chicago) became Districts 5 and 6 and the Squads assigned to those districts were also renumbered 5 and 6. The new District 4 was assigned to the West and near Southwest sides and the "new" Squad 4 was also assigned one of our 1972 Mack/Platt former Flying Manpower Squads.

Our "District" Squad companies only responded on confirmed working fires and "Special Duty" calls such as" pin in" accidents.

Prior to the establishment of the "District" Squads, our 7 Flying Manpower Squads and our one remaining Snorkel Squad would respond automatically on the initial report of a structure fire, what we call a "Still Alarm". Our 7 "Flying Manpower Squads" and our "original" Snorkel Squad 1 were taken out of service to create the new "District Squads". The main reason why our Flying Manpower Squads were taken out of service was because on February 14 1980 the Chicago FIre Fighters union Local 2 called a strike that lasted 23 days.Not only did the strike ultimately result in the Chicago fire fighters first ever contract but it also restored the "fifth man" on most of our Engines and Truck companies that had been running as 4 man companies since late 1967.

In late 1967 the city had reduced the firefighters working hours however the city didn't want to hire more men so they had hired a consultant who had recommended that about 3/5 th's of our Engine's and Truck only run with 4 men assigned to them (instead of the normal 5 men). Only the Engines and Trucks that were in your "busier" districts and in the downtown area would continue running with 5 men assigned to them. The consultant had recommended that 6 "Flying Manpower Squads" be created to respond to fires in the 4 man company districts to help compensate for the "reduced manning" on those companies. Six "Flying Manpower" Squads were created in 1969 using old Engine company apparatus. During 1971 a 7th Flying Manpower Squad was created as a follow up recommendation from the consultant.

In 1973 the CFD had assigned the Flying Manpower Squads, seven new box style Mack/Platt Squad apparatus. They were Chicago's first completely enclosed Heavy Rescue "box style" Squad apparatus As the firefighters strike had succeeded in getting the city to restore the 5th man on the 4 man Engines and Trucks there was longer a need for our "Flying Manpower" Squads so about 6 months after the strike they were replaced in October of 1980 by the 5 "new" District Squad companies (that were numbered for the District that they were assigned to).

During September of 1982 a new 6th district was created and on September 2 a "new Squad 4" was created for the new district 4 however a year later on September 19 1983 Squads 3,4 an 5 were all taken out of service and Squads 1, 2 and 6 were relocated and made into 2 piece Squad/Snorkel companies running with three of our 75 foot Oshkosh/Pierce Snorkels.

Around April of 1987 Squads 1 and 2 had received two custom built Spartan/E one 55 foot Snorkel built on special cabinet equipped Squad bodies making Squads 1 and 2 into one piece Snorkel Squads.

Squad 5 , which was had been Squad 6 until they were relocated to Engine 116's house in December of 1987, (was still a two piece company however they had been given the 1975 Hendrick/Pierce 55 foot Snorkel that had originally been assigned to our "Snorkel Squad 1" from January 1976 until October 1980 when "SS 1" as it was called,was taken out of service.

Snorkel Squad 1 had been in service since September of 1962 as a two piece company and ran as our elite Heavy Rescue company. Snorkel Squad 1 was running with a small Ford Pierce box style walk Squad van from November of 1974 till October of 1980, as it's second piece however from 1962 until 1974 the second piece was always a small International Harvest/Darley High Pressure Fog (booster type) pumper which had 2 narrow diameter reels of booster hose equipped with a gun type High Pressure Fog Nozzle and a 300 gallon water tank on board.

We had two other Snorkel Squads as well but our Snorkel Squads 2 and 3 ( from the 1960's) were officially taken out of service during May of 1969. Because they had been running without Snorkels for awhile they were re/designated as Rescues 2 and 3 for the last 6 or 7 months before being taken out of service.

Around November of 1988 Squad/Snorkel 5 was given a 55 foot Spartan/E one Snorkel Squad that had matched Squads 1 and 2's rigs A little less then a year later in 1989 Squad 5 was involved in a serious rollover accident and was a total loss so Squad 5 resumed running temporarily as a 2 piece Squad with the 1975 Hendrickson Pierce 55 foot Snokel and a 1979 Ford/3D metals Squad van.

Some major body work was done on the Hendrickson/Pierce Snorkel so that Squad 5 also became a one piece company for a few years.

In late 1996 Squad 1 was assigned a new HME/Saulsbury , Heavy Rescue van and their 1987 Spartan/E one Snorkel was reassigned to Squad 5. From 1997 to mid 2000 Squad 1 ran without a Snorkel. Squads 2 and 5 which both were now running with identical 1987 Spartan E one 55 foot Snorkels were given 1973 and 1975 model (former) Seagrave pumpers that had their pumps removed and more cabinets added so they could run as spare Squads, but were given to Squads 2 and 5 as their "new" second pieces in 1997 as the Spartan /E one Snorkels were beginning to run top heavy due to the equipment on board so they became (once again) two piece units.

Within a year Squad One's new Heavy Rescue was damaged in a serious accident to they were given a rebuilt 1978 American La France pumper as a temporary Spare Squad. The HME/Saulsbury was sent back to HME to have a new cab put on it and about a year later went back in service around 1999.

Fire Commissioner Robert Altman who had been on the Original Snorkel Squad 1 had decided that CFD would continue running with Snorkel Squads on our three Squad companies that were located in the city proper. The CFD had ordered our current HME/Central States 2 piece Squad/Snorkel companies in 1999 and were put in service on our Squads 1 2 and 5 during the summer of 2000.

Squad 7 located at O"Hare International airport runs with a 2000 model Tandem axle Pierce Heavy Rescue Squad as it's first piece and a 2003 model Ford/Pierce mini foam pumper as it's second piece. I understand that a new Squad for O'"Hare field has been or is about to be ordered and that the city was recently advertising for bids on a new Snorkel/Rescue Squad for the city proper.

Truckie 343 as you can see our Squad history is very long and detailed and I didn't even begin to cover our original Squad companies that had run from 1913 until 1967/68 as well as our Salvage Squads that ran from 1966/67 through 1972 and our Rescue Squads that were only in service only from 1929 through 1933. The Squad history that I covered here was mainly from the 1970's and 1980's until now.

[/quote]



Firepost, definitely answers a lot of questions about how the Flying Squads and Snorkel Squads came to be......very detailed and thorough explanation !! Awesome Job.....I was fortunate enough to have made two trips to Chicago, riding with Squad 1 when it was located at Engine 5's quarters each time......great department and hospitality shown !!!

[Guest]

Is there any manufacture that is still making new snorkels ? I thought alf owned the snorkel name and went out of business ? Also I thought nfpa wouldn't allow an new SNK due to not having two escape routes from basket. I hope they are still making snorkels as I love ours and it is a 1971 boom on a 2003 chassis.

[Dickey]

thanks for the info firepost!!

[Guest]

thanks post! that was awesome...at some point if time permits id love to hear the WHOLE story....lol....but that will do for now....im heading out to chicago in july. thanks again!

[firepost]

[quote name='Nozzleman71' timestamp='1340842123' post='490490']

Is there any manufacture that is still making new snorkels ? I thought alf owned the snorkel name and went out of business ? Also I thought nfpa wouldn't allow an new SNK due to not having two escape routes from basket. I hope they are still making snorkels as I love ours and it is a 1971 boom on a 2003 chassis.

[/quote] Nozzleman 71. As you probably know American La France owns the rights to manufacture the "Snorkel" but because they refuse to build them, fire departments that use them, such as Chicago and Memphis (on their Snorkel Squads) have to rehab old Snorkels and put them on new Chassis such as what the Memphis fire department had done with it's 2 Snorkel Squads.

Even though the Snorkel is no longer manufactured, the Bronto Skylift company of Finland manufactures a wide variety of "Snorkel Like" articulating aerial platforms and that can and have been installed on "Squad type" apparatus overseas.

While in America the Pierce corporation is the official distributor of Bronto Skylift platforms and the only ones that they have been marketing for America have been the 100 foot ,114 foot and the 134 foot models, in Europe Bronto manufactures both taller and shorter aerial platforms. The shorter ones which they call the "All arounder" Models are built in 17 to 28 meter sizes which loosely translates to 55 to 91 feet which would meet the criteria for both Chicago's and Memphis's "Snorkel Squads" which normally are 55 foot models. Here is a link to the Bronto's webpage site that talks about their "Allrounder model" which would be perfect (in my opinion for Chicago's and Memphis's Snorkel Squads).

[url="http://www.bronto.fi/sivu.aspx?taso=1&id=122"]http://www.bronto.fi...x?taso=1&id=122[/url]



That said, I think that Chicago really should have the rights to the Snorkel's official plans and design rights, as it was the Chicago FIre department shops that had helped to modify and design the first "Pitman" corporation Platform for fire fighting applications, which was the first "Snorkel" and I personally believe the Chicago and other fire departments who still use Snorkels or have a need for them, should consider suing American La France to at least sell the rights to build the Snorkel to a manufacturer that is willing to build them . American La France, by holding on to the rights to build the Snorkel but refusing to do so is not benefiting anyone. That's just my opinion, but a case can be made that Chicago should have the rights to an apparatus that they helped to develop.

American La France even acquired the Original 1958 model GMC Pitman 50 foot Snorkel that the Chicago Fire Department shops had modified for fire fighting and rescue applications. That apparatus should be in Chicago as America La France had nothing to do with building it,even though it is now part of "their" historical collection.