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Chicago Fire Department history

This from Eric Haak:

Old Chicago Fire Department Engine 53’s house in the stockyards was torn down Monday, 2-18-19.

Eric Haak photo

Tags: Chicago Fire Department history, Erick Haak, former quarters of Engine 53 was torn down, old Chicago fire house torn down

This entry was posted on February 20, 2019, 11:00 AM and is filed under Fire Department History, FIre Stations. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

8 Comments (and one trackback)

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• #1 by Tim on February 23, 2019 - 8:45 AM

  

  I just find it ironic the house was standing abandoned longer than it was in service.

• #2 by CrabbyMilton on February 21, 2019 - 7:42 AM

  

  I did an overhead view and yes, it is in an area that would not be justified for a private residence so I guess knocking it down is probably the best option and it was in bad shape anyway.

• #3 by Eric Haak on February 21, 2019 - 6:34 AM

  

  For those unfamiliar. This house used to be located in the Union Stockyards. There had been many major fires in the Stockyards over the years and the complex had several firehouses on the inside as well as several located within a mile on the outside. The yards closed in 1971 and slowly, most of the evidence that a stockyards ever existed disappeared. This house was located in a remote area at the end of a dead end street. For many years it stood in an empty lot, not surrounded by any businesses. It was open for a while and, from what I saw, there appeared to be some graffiti inside. It was definitely open to the elements for a long time as the second story windows were not boarded up for many years. Even the street it used to sit on was no longer visible as new streets were paved over for the new businesses that were now occupying the area. A few years ago, a salvage company moved into that section and began doing business there. I believe they bought the property and the house with it but I do not know that for sure. Either way, the building stood for several more years but appeared to be right in the middle of their operations. There was really no way to preserve it or re-purpose it considering the new use of the land around it. The only way it could have been saved would have been to move it completely which would obviously cost a lot of money.

• #4 by CrabbyMilton on February 21, 2019 - 5:57 AM

  

  It’s always sad to see a house/station to meet the wrecking ball. Granted, it has been out of service for 55 years but still sad regardless.
  Did CFD still have some control over it or did the City of Chicago just use it for storage for whatever?
  Too bad it couldn’t have been sold to the private sector like many other old houses/stations with beautiful results.

• #5 by Bill Post on February 21, 2019 - 2:56 AM

  

  It is also interesting that Engine 53 wasn’t immediately taken out of service when that firehouse was abandoned. They went in service at Engine 80s current house and were in service there for slightly over 3 years before being taken our of service in 1967.

• #6 by Mike on February 20, 2019 - 9:40 PM

  

  Ken Little has a great picture in Volume II of the History of Chicago Fire Houses book. It is in color and the station is in despair. Address listed is 4005 S. Packers Ave. Says the station was built in 1919 and was abandoned in the summer of 1964. In addition to Engine 53 the house also was home to High Pressure 5. All information is from the book. Ken and John McNalis did a phenomenal job on each volume.

• #7 by Martin on February 20, 2019 - 3:01 PM

  

  I seen some photo somewhere of the interior. A photographer was lucky enough to get inside before demo.

• #8 by MABAS 21 on February 20, 2019 - 11:51 AM

  

  4011 S. Packers Ave. What a shame! Hopefully anything of historical significance was removed at the last minute.

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