Dennis McGuire, Jr. provided the following update:
Year: 1987
Chassis Manufacturer: SPARTAN
Body Manufacturer: E-ONE
Aerial Device: 55′ SNORKEL
Hours: 748
VIN: 158BT0L07HC185046
Running Condition: DOES NOT RUN
Sold for $4550.00
City of Chicago – City of Chicago Online Auctions
Decommissioned Chicago Reserve Snorkel. Chicago Auction Site photo
Driver's side of decommissioned Snorkel. Chicago Auction Site photo
E-ONE body and 55' Snorkel boom of the decommissioned Snorkel. Chicago Auction Site photo
#1 by chris on October 7, 2010 - 9:05 PM
back to running with spare engines for the second piece of the squads
#2 by Bill Post on October 7, 2010 - 7:57 PM
It’s a shame to see Chicago getting rid of one of it’s two remaining “Spare” 55-foot ” E/One” Snorkel Squads. Apparently it wasn’t able to run anymore however my real question is, is the Snorkel itself salvageable?
As a number of readers of this site may already know, the Snorkel booms themselves are no longer being built by American LaFrance (who owns the rights to the Snorkel). That fact along with knowledge that the Chicago Fire Department is supposed to be working on specs for a new Squad can’t help but make you wonder if Chicago can (one way or another) continue running with two-piece Snorkel Squads. Short of buying the rights to build Snorkels from American LaFrance, the only other way to run with Snorkel Squads is to rehab the current 55-foot Snorkels and remount them on new chassis.
Memphis, Tennessee which runs with two, one-piece Snorkel Squads had remounted an older reconditioned Snorkel on a new Pierce chassis a few years ago.
Considering that Chicago still makes much use of it’s 55-foot Snorkels, I can only hope that some of the CFD’s brass make the people from Fleet Management aware of the option of remounting older Snorkels on new chassis.