Fire Service, Inc. has photos on their Facebook page of the engine and truck being built for Evergreen Park
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
#1 by Brian on June 9, 2014 - 9:59 PM
Good deal
#2 by ffpm571 on June 9, 2014 - 9:31 PM
It is the ex- Evergreen Park Eng 48 spartan Pirsch They got it as a reserve for a great deal This is per the RG Deputy Chief
#3 by Brian on June 9, 2014 - 8:44 PM
They have an old Schaumburg engine, sure it wasnt that?
#4 by John on June 9, 2014 - 4:15 PM
I just saw an old Evergreen Park engine at River Groves firehouse. It looked like River Grove was putting hose on it.
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#5 by Matt on March 18, 2014 - 8:59 PM
Mike,
Not quite old enough to have seen the S36 fight fires with the hose over the roof but do remember the Mini pumper being used to chase the ambulance and for other small stuff. The original idea for these rigs was to handle car fires at the Plaza since the big trucks could not get under or on the parking ramp behind the mall. You are right in that the EPFD had two companies and two stations and depending on where the call was, never knew which would show up.
As to the apparatus disposition, the Pirsch squad went to a towing company and was last seen rotting in a Florida junk yard. The midmount ladder was on ebay sold for junk to a Chicago junk yard. The former E49 conventional is privately owned in Pennsylvania (last yellow rig – never repainted) and the E30 Pirsch conventional was cut apart and used to build the Ford pumper that was part of the water task force in the 1970’s then the body was scrapped and the chassis became a snow plow. The second generation of rigs – the engine shown on this page will replace the current E48 on the site. The old Truck 44 rearmount is now rusting in Arkansas after serving a department down there and the old E50 went to Grinnell Iowa where it was being used as a reserve/water supply rig.
Mutual aid in the old First District was often a challenge since there were many strong personalities in the fire chiefs in the communities but when things went up in a big way like the tornado or the fires at the plaza, everyone pitched in.
#6 by Mike Mc on March 18, 2014 - 9:41 AM
Matt: Thanks for the information. Sounds like you have quite a knowledge of the department’s history. Do you remember when the department would respond to fires with two men on Squad 36 and they would fight the fire with a booster line while volunteers would report to the fire stations (there were two) and then respond with the rigs? The air raid siren would sound the entire time. Mutual aid would not be requested or even considered unless the responding volunteers needed assistance. Even the mutual aid would usually consist of no more than an engine from Oak Lawn and an engine from Hometown or Burbank. Came a long way since then.
The rigs did look pretty cool for yellow. Evergreen Park had a fixation with Mars 888’s, every rig had at least two. They also liked the short lived Mars Skybolt dome lights.
Do you know if any of the old Pirsch rigs survived? I believe there were four. Two engines, a midmount 65 foot ladder, and a squad. They were followed a second generation of two Pirsch engines and a rear mount ladder.
Thanks.
#7 by Matt on March 18, 2014 - 2:15 AM
Evergreen’s rigs were yellow from 1968 through the early 1990’s with the last one taken out of service in 1999 or so. The yellow was not a bright chrome yellow but a darker yellow with green lettering and striping with grey shadowing which made for a really nice look. They were a nice looking fleet of Pirschs that served the town well.
#8 by Tom on March 15, 2014 - 9:56 PM
Found this on another site.
The lighting requirements for fire apparatus basically address two conditions; moving apparatus (termed “Calling for Right-of-Way”) and stopped apparatus (termed “Blocking Right-of-Way”). The intent is to standardize what the lights being displayed mean, reduce amp draw when stopped, and reduce the chances of accidents. In a nutshell, apparatus lighting is divided into 4 quadrants labeled A,B,C, & D, with the front being A, right side B, rear C, and left side D. Apparatus calling for the right of way (moving) can display any color lighting any direction except (1) no amber light to the front and (2) no white light to the rear. Apparatus blocking the right of way (stopped) can display any color lighting in any direction except (1) no white light at all and (2) amber must be shown to the rear. More importantly than the NFPA standard (which isn’t law) is that you comply with your state’s motor vehicle code (which is law!) particularly in regard to colors displayed. Check out Federal Signal’s website at http://www.fedsig.com and the Whelen Engineering site at http://www.whelen.com for customizable lighting packages which meet NFPA standards. Get yourself a copy of NFPA 1901 before you start writing specs – it will provide tons of info.
#9 by Drew Smith on March 15, 2014 - 11:37 AM
Josh, I have posted here before the exact text of NFPA 1901 regarding warning light colors. In summary, no color is required but certain colors are prohibited when applied to the front or rear and when the apparatus is parked not responding. I tried to search this site for that post but was unable to find it.
#10 by Dave Bloom on March 14, 2014 - 9:07 PM
Andy, you are correct. EPFD had yellow rigs in the 70’s, almost a “school bus yellow”. Check Bill Friedrich’s page here for old pictures.
#11 by Andy on March 14, 2014 - 7:35 PM
I think EP rigs were yellow in the 70s?
#12 by Matt on March 14, 2014 - 7:13 PM
Gentlemen, Evergreen Park has a history of black over red apparatus since the early 1950’s. The current rigs have green lenses on the front and on the light bars, like how they have outfitted EPFD apparatus since the 1960’s so the green lenses are not a new thing either. It would be a lie if most area departments said that they did not have any influences from the CFD as black over red and green lights are common at a lot of area departments. So I beg to differ that Evergreen Park does not have a tradition as it has over 80 years of service to the community and now many others through participation in MABAS.
#13 by Josh on March 14, 2014 - 10:39 AM
If you look at the lights on the roof. The officer side light bar has a clear lens on the end. I bet that is green. NFPA requires red and white from the factory, but if the department signs a waiver, they may place greens lights on the new rigs.
#14 by 0.02 on March 14, 2014 - 10:07 AM
EP is mostly chicago guys working there on their day off.
#15 by chris r on March 14, 2014 - 9:58 AM
That’s a chicago fire dept tradition , not a evergreen park tradition .
#16 by CFDFF on March 14, 2014 - 9:48 AM
Its on the front grille lights so that’s ok. As long as it’s on there then tradition will continue.
#17 by Robert on March 14, 2014 - 9:09 AM
Too bad the lights on the roof don’t have one green