Chicago Fire Department history « chicagoareafire.com

Chicago Fire Department history

This from Steve Redick:

Here’s something I found in my archives. It’s a complete CFD directory from 1955. If you take the time to look it over there are lots of interesting things.

click on any page to download a larger file

Tags: Chicago FD 1955 directory, Chicago Fire Department history

This entry was posted on February 12, 2019, 7:00 AM 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.

12 Comments

#1 by Phil Stenholm on February 13, 2019 - 6:39 PM

When the first six CFD ambulances were placed into service in 1928 they were designed to transport injured firefighters to the hospital, but in 1930 CFD ambulance service was extended to civilians injured at fires & explosions, serious accidents, and mass-casualty incidents, with one Intern from Loyola University Medical Center assigned to each of the six ambulances.

Five of the six ambulances were taken out of service in 1937 due to budget cuts during the Depression (only Ambulance 1 at Engine 1 remained in front-line service, with Ambulance 2 at Engine 12, Ambulance 5 at Engine 62, and Ambulance 6 at Engine 78 in reserve only, and Ambulance 3 and Ambulance 4 transferred to the Chicago Board of Health at the Chicago Contagious Disease Hospital), and once again CFD ambulance service was only for injured firefighters.

Two ambulances (both Packards) were placed back into front-line service during WWII (one at Engine 78 and one at Engine 93), but they were operated by the Civil Defense and staffed by civilians until November 1945, when Ambulance 2 (at Engine 12), Ambulance 5 (at Engine 93), and Ambulance 6 (at Engine 78) were once again staffed by firefighters and as ambulance service was once again extended to civilians injured at fires & explosions, serious accidents, and mass-casualty incidents,.

Ambulance 3 (at Engine 114) and Ambulance 4 (at Engine 61) were transferred back to the CFD from the Board of Health in July 1947, and Ambulance 7 (at Engine 108) and Ambulance 8 (at Engine 123) were placed into service later that year.

BTW, one of the Packard Civil Defense ambulances from WWII was the first Ambulance 16 at O’Hare Field in 1955.
#2 by Mike Mc on February 13, 2019 - 5:19 PM

If I’m not mistaken the third platoon started in 1955.
#3 by Bmurphy on February 13, 2019 - 8:31 AM

Bill- fantastic and fascinating information! Thanks for sharing!
#4 by , on February 13, 2019 - 4:24 AM

BMurphy by 1955 the CFD was providing emergency ambulance service to the public however the police were still using their squad rolls as there weren’t enough fire department ambulances in service. The fire department ambulances weren’t officially allowed to remove patients from private dwellings unless they were an employee of the fire department. In 1946 Chicago Firefighter Joseph J McCarthy was appointed as the Supervisor of the Chicago Fire Department’s ambulance service. Before World War 2 he had been assigned to Truck 11. During the war he received a Purple Heart, Silver Star, and was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Truman for his role as a Marine officer in the battle of Iwo Jima. When he became head of the CFD ambulance service, ambulances began responding to calls for assistance from the public.

At the time, only Ambulances 1,2,5, and 6 were in service. Ambulances 3 and 4 were put back in service between 1947 and 1950. He put Ambulances 7 through 12 in service and Ambulance 16 in 1955. Ambulances 13, 14, and 15 went in service in 1956. In 1957 Ambulance 17 went in service in 1959 and in 1958 he put Ambulances 18 and 19 in service. Ambulance 20 was put in service in 1959, Ambulance 21 in 1961, and in 1963 he put the last of the original CFD ambulances in service which were 22 through 25. He retired in 1973 only about a year or two before the fire department started using modular ambulances.

The fire department began purchasing station wagons for the Battalions in 1958 and by 1960 all 31 them which could double as ambulances if the nearest ambulance was not available.

The battalion chief station wagons weren’t equipped with oxygen or inhalators until 1967/68 when the last of the old squad companies were taken out of service.

The Chicago Police squad rolls were still being used for some victim transport well into the 1970s and possibly the early 1980s. They would use them mainly for gunshot victims or if there weren’t any ambulances available or close by.
#5 by Chuck on February 12, 2019 - 10:33 PM

And now they have 80 ambulances and THAT’S not enough.
#6 by Bill Post on February 12, 2019 - 8:37 PM

Michael M there were actually less then 12 ambulances at one time. Even though the ambulances were around since about 1928, until the mid 1940s they were only used for injured and sick firefighters. There were only 4 ambulances in service until around 1945 when the fire department started to expand the service to serve the public. The squad companies were still given priority until mid 1955 on inhalator and resuscitation runs such as trouble breathing and heart attacks.

The police department was the primary agency providing emergency ambulance service. They only provided basic transportation in their squad rolls whose primary purpose was to transport prisoners and remove dead bodies. The squad rolls or paddy wagons didn’t carrry oxygen or resuscitators.
Even when the fire Department started providing service to the public they would only remove patients and victims from public places and from street accidents. While the fire department would respond to private residences to administer oxygen and first aid, they normally wouldn’t remove a patient from their house or apartment. They had to call for a private ambulance or the police could to do sick removals using squad rolls despite the fact that they were poorly equipped.

Beginning on April 16th 1955, the ambulances were given first priority on inhalator runs though squads would often respond too. The squads would be second due if the nearest ambulance wasn’t available.

The CFD ambulances didn’t start removing victims from private residences until the 1970s.

As you can see even in 1955 Chicago really wasn’t well covered by 12 ambulances, however in late 1955 Ambulance 16 was put in service at O’Hare. In 1956 Ambulances 13, 14, and 15 were put in service.

The fire department was given the responsibility of the providing Chicago’s ambulance service in 1945/46 when a series of newspaper articles had shown that victims would have to wait up to an hour for the police to arrive.

A study done in the mid 1940’s by the Chicago Hospital Council determined that the city needed 25 ambulances. That became the fire department’s goal however it wasn’t until 1963 that Ambulances 22, 23, 2,4 and 25 were finally put in service. In 1970 Ambulances 31 through 38 were put in service however they were “Model Cities” ambulances, part of a federal program that was to provide ambulance service to certain neighborhoods. While they were stationed at Chicago firehouses, they were allowed to make patient removals from private residences within those designated areas. A firefighter would drive the ambulance and the EMT was a model cities employee, often a military veteran. Two years later city council changed the CFD’s policy and allowed all of the ambulances to remove patients from private residences. The “Model Cites” ambulances were also made part of the CFD’s regular fleet. In 1974 the CFD got the first two modular ALS ambulances. Within a few months paramedics were assigned to some of the ambulances and the ALS telemetry radio system went on line. The very first ALS ambulance in Chicago at O’Hare, part of the Chicago area’s pilot paramedic program in the northwest suburbs.
#7 by BMurphy on February 12, 2019 - 8:24 PM

This dates to either just before or just after Richard J Daley was first elected, and thus before the tenure of the legendary FC Quinn. The very first Snorkel was still a few years away.

I believe the PD ran the city ambulance service back then and the FD ambos were primarily for the safety of the firemen.

As for the PD, the Police District boundaries followed the old Ward boundaries. Guess who really ran each District. Lots more about that in Mike Royko’s masterpiece book on Chicago politics, Boss.
#8 by Michael m on February 12, 2019 - 4:53 PM

So at one time there were 13 squad companies and only 12 ambulances in the city?
#9 by BMurphy on February 12, 2019 - 1:39 PM

James-

http://mentalfloss.com/article/61116/why-did-old-phone-numbers-start-letters

Old number for the Elmhurst Fire Department: TErrace2-2121
#10 by James hamilton on February 12, 2019 - 1:31 PM

I have never seen phone numbers like that I wish you could tell me how to call those numbers
#11 by CrabbyMilton on February 12, 2019 - 8:58 AM

These days, everybody has one or more cell phones.
So you’re better off emailing them.
#12 by Mike L on February 12, 2019 - 8:01 AM

That’s awesome, Steve! Thank you for sharing. This is just prior to the 3rd platoon being brought on in 1959. 123 out of the 129 engines in service, all 13 squads, of the then 56 trucks none are disbanded. Love the history and being able to see it. Thank you!