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Chicago Engine 77 – some final history (part 5)

… and after being torn down

• E77 on September 9, 2012. Demo complete, views from both north and south. Notice condition of the house to the south at 1226 S. Komensky. House has been rehabbed and is currently occupied. Almost 90 year old firehouse to the north is gone.
• E77 is one of the last of it’s kind. The last single engine house was built in the early 50’s (E113- the ‘next company over” from 77). There are only a handful of single company firehouses in Chicago anymore, let alone single company houses with the history of actvity E77 saw during it’s heyday. For awhile, it had a reputation as a punishment house, on the outskirts of the city, where department brass “bansihed” firemen it disliked. But with many firehouses like it, Engine 77 consistently turned out experienced, seasoned firefighters that were promoted out of the house to pass on the lessons they learned.
• E77 on 10/24/07

Dan McInerney photo

Dan McInerney photo

Dan McInerney photo

Journal 1 shows the company journal entry when me grandfather retired (mandatory after 35 years apparently).

Dan McInerney photo

The other journal entry shows the company member information page. Notice there are only 2 company officers and engineers. This was back in the days of the two-platoon system. The info pages also list the dates of birth, entry into CFD and the date the member was assigned to the company.

Dan McInerney photo

In this case, my grandfather John J. McInerney was transferred to E77 as an Engineer on March 16, 1935. He started out as a fireman at E103 when they were on Harrison Street in 1917. In the center of the picture it lists his date of birth as 8/15/1889. Next to the on the right, his “Former Occ” on the top right of the page it lists his former occupation as a Locomotive Fireman. Next to that, it lists his native country as “US”, followed by his badge number. The following page goes on to list his date of entry into the CFD (7/22/17), address and phone number. In his case, he lived at 1509 N. Luna, and his telephone number was Merrimac7-2510. This information about members was kept in company journals for many, many years.

My father, Donald McInerney, as a young boy used to visit his father at the firehouse. He used to call his dad “ball driver”. Shortly after John J. was promoted to Engineer, E77 had an Ahrens-Fox pumper assigned to it, and it had the distinctive chrome shpere on the front, hence the name “ball driver”.

 

Family lore has it that my grandfather met his future wife one day at E103’s firehouse. She saw him going down the street on an alarm, and came by the firehuose afterwards to complain that she didn’t like the way he was treating the horses.

 

E77’s last company patch. I’ll leave it to the viewers to report how they got the phrase “I Like It Here”

 

Dan McInerney collection

I posted many more pics on my facebook page “facebook.com/dmcinerney1”. If blog viewers wish, they can go there and view pics from E77’s last day in service as well as other fire pics I have uploaded to my facebook page.

Tags: CFD company patches, Chicago Engine 77, Chicago Fire Department Engine 77's house, Chicago Fire Department patches, Dan McInerney, tour of Chicago Engine 77's house the day it was closed

This entry was posted on September 15, 2012, 1:33 PM and is filed under Fire Department History. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 Comments

• #1 by ENG 17 on September 18, 2012 - 7:59 AM

  

  I like your “family lore” story of how his future wife complained of how the horses were being treated. Took me back to when I was a kid. My grandfather was an engineer in Chicago, and I remember he and my dad sitting around talking, and telling me how it was the probie’s job to “service the mares”. Being young, I didn’t really know what he meant by “service”. Figured it out a few years later and still chuckle when I think of it…

• #2 by John on September 18, 2012 - 7:57 AM

  

  I’m dying to know what the “I Like It Here” meant…

• #3 by DMc77 on September 17, 2012 - 2:04 PM

  

  Bill and Mark it was my pleasure. My only regret was not having spent more time in the 14th Battalion – I was too busy trying to keep up with the 13th in my younger days.

  Martin the picture with the boarded up windows was taken on 10/24/07.

• #4 by Martin on September 16, 2012 - 9:59 PM

  

  When was the picture with the boarded up windows taken? Also is there any new construction on the lot?

• #5 by Bill Post on September 16, 2012 - 12:20 AM

  

  Dan I too would like to thank you for sharing this history of Engine 77 with us.

  An interesting fact to note is that even though they were officially assigned to the old 28th Battalion (pre 1982), they were less then two blocks from the boundary lines of the old 23rd and the old 18th battalions so they kept all three battalion chiefs busy responding to still alarms with them.

• #6 by Mark on September 15, 2012 - 8:21 PM

  

  Dan, Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
  It is nice to get a little history of yours that in effect effects mine. As I stated in your previous post my father grew up across the street from 77, and lived there from 1921 to 1956. My dad and grand dad practically lived at the station. They used to tell me stories about the guys and the ol fire barn. I’m sure those stories had to involve your grand dad. Thanks Again!

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