chicagoareafire.com

22 Comments

• #1 by Wayne on March 15, 2022 - 1:15 PM

  

  120 is still in their house on Homewood. That video is probably from about 5 years ago when 120 had the floors repaired at their firehouse. They lived out of 121s house while that was being done. 121 currently has Truck 40, Ambulances 29 and 79, and the 21st Battalion quartered with them.

• #2 by Bill Post on March 15, 2022 - 11:46 AM

  

  Chuck, you are spot on when it comes to Engine 125 and they could have used an ambulance 20 years ago. Do you recall when Chicago had the Heat wave in July of 1995. The heat wave was so bad that the CFD had put about a dozen special assignment ambulances in service for the duration of the heat wave and I believe that Engine 125’s house was assigned one (temporarily of course). I didn’t go to 125’s house so I don’t know where they put the Ambulance but I would guess that when they were at quarters (which would have been pretty rare) that they would have just been parked on the apron.
  So you know of course that 2 years later in 1997 Engine 125 had become one of the first ALS Engine companies. Three years later they gave Engine 68 BLS ambulance 82 in June 2000 and you know that they finally converted the BLS ambulances to ALS units in 2014. I know that Ambulance 63 is always going to West Side to cover for Ambulances 15 and 23 and that Ambulance 7 also would always being sent to the West side especially before Ambo 63 was put into service.
  Even though they would be moving them further east it makes sense just to move Battalion 8 to Engine 68’s house and that way they could put a new Ambulance in service at Engine 125’s house. Chuck wouldn’t that give Engine 125 enough space for an Ambulance? Or would that still be too tight for their quarters?
  As you know since the 1990’s Engine 125 was always getting new rigs assigned to them every few years since they became an ALS company. I remember that in 1997 that they were assigned one of the long wheel base HME Luvernes and 2 years later they got a newer short wheel base HME Luverne assigned to them. So with the short wheel base rig in their house they could have easily moved the 8th Battalion out and moved a new Ambulance in.
  Chuck since you are familiar with Engine 69’s house then I’m sure that you know that their quarters are actually larger then they may seem. I remember when the 30th Battalion was located there in the early 1960s and they kept an Old Black Limo parked next to the Engine which had belonged to a long time retired Fire Commissioner. Yes I have been around that long. Apparently they had some extra space in there. Even though I didn’t live in Engine 69s still district I would see them quite often responding as the 2nd Engine to near where I lived and they ran with a sharp customized 1949 Mack Engine that had two long metal poles on each side of the front fender and on top of each of the poles were a minuture Fire Chiefs helmet with the number 69 on it. I found out later that the rig also have been retrofitted a with booster tank (without a booster reel however) so that they wouldn’t need to hook up to a hydrant if the were responding on the Kennedy expressway.

• #3 by John Antkowski on March 15, 2022 - 10:51 AM

  

  Bill Post, I visited Engine 115 back in the day. I was taking pictures of the Pullman district and me and my friend stopped to check the station out. I totally agree with you that they were way over due for a new house. They had a old Ford E-One and it was a pretty snug fit. I agree with you that they didn’t need a super Firehouse. I remember someone saying that the location isn’t centrally located in their still first in area. How about the other 2 companies does the location work for them? You mentioned Engine’s 70 and 59. Their new quarters are in a congested area. Plus I saw a short video of Engine 121 and Truck 40 responding and it had Engine 120 responding from the other side. Did they close 120’s house or is it down for repairs. Plus I can’t imagine what day to day is like In a Mega house. That could be tough to support the staff and put out daily meals. I love the interesting feedback. Thanks.

• #4 by Chuck on March 15, 2022 - 8:58 AM

  

  Bill, the one example I was thinking of primarily would be Engine 69 – they have no ambulance in the house, although one would probably not be a bad idea in a new house. You could almost build a single bay, drive through house and have the apparatus parked back to back. I also think one of the more glaring needs for a new house would be Engine 125, because they need an ambulance badly out there.

• #5 by Bill Post on March 15, 2022 - 4:15 AM

  

  John Antkowski and Chuck, the Chicago Fire Department did an “in house” study of Chicago Fire Station locations and whether each Engine and Truck company could reach various points withing their still districts within a minimum acceptable time range, in 1986. The various points within an Engine or Trucks district were known as “demand zones”. The Fire Commissioner at the time was Louis Galante and head of the Research and Planning department was Frank M. Gagliardi. The results of that study had show that were a number of areas or demand zones that were mainly located on the far south side and (mostly located in the 22nd and the 24th Battalions) where the first due Engine and Truck couldn’t reach certain areas within the minimum acceptable amount of minutes or time.

  As a consequence of that in house study, several specific recommendations were made in regards to building several new fire stations and also relocating several fire companies and puting some new ones in service as well as taking some out of service. That study had recommended building 4 new fire stations on the Far South side. The 4 proposed fire stations were listed in order of priority or which ones should be built first.
  Those 4 stations were listed
  1.13000 South and 200 East (for Engine 75 and a new Truck company).
  2.13000 South and 3100 East ( for Engine 97 and another new Truck company)
  3.10300 South and 0 hundred West (for Engine 93 and another new Truck company)
  4, 732 W 115th street (for Engine company 104 and Truck 24)

  When that report was done Engine 104 had been temporarily relocated into Engine 1’s house at 419 S Wells street after Engine 104s old house was closed at 1401 S Michigan. Truck 61’s house was still without an assigned Engine company so that report had recommended that Engine 103 from 25 S Laflin be relocated to Truck 61’s house instead. As you know Enginr 104 was relocated to Truck 61 and Engine 103 stayed on the near West Side.

  Engine company 20 was still in service at 1324 W Concord pl (on the near north side) so it had recommened that Engine 20 be taken out of service and its manpower be used to create a new Truck company to go in service at Engine 97’s proposed new station.

  Engine 63 and Truck 16 were still located at their old fire station at 1405 E 62nd pl ( 5 blocks north of their current station). The study had recommended that Engine 63 be taken out of service and that it’s manpower be used to create a new Truck company to be put in service with Engine 75 at their proposed new station on 130th street near Indiana ave. Engine company 100 which was still in service at Harper and 69th street would have remained in service instead of Engine 63 as they were only 2 blocks south of Engine 63’s new station.
  Truck 16 was recommended to be relocated to Engine company 81 at 10458 S Hoxie. For those who don’t know in 1961 an addition was built onto Engine 81s house so that they could put Truck 61 in service as a new company. They didn’t move Truck 61 out of there until 11 years later.
  Only the new Truck company that was recommended to be put into a new house with Engine 93 at 103rd and State street would have been a totally new company and 2 of the other “new Trucks ” would have been created by taking 2 Engine companies out of service. When Commissioner Galante left the Fire Commissioners Office nothing was done about that report and it’s recommendations. Even though about 10 new stations were built between 2003 and 2012 none of the one recommended in in house study were built until they opened Engine 115s new house and that was supposed to be built in the early 1970s and Engine 115 wasn’t supposed to be a Mega Station either. This an example of the Political games that the City of Chicago;s building department takes part in. Some of the money that was spent on Engine 115’s 4 bay montrosity could have been used toward building at least one or two other fire stations on the far south side that Chicago Fire Departments own Research and Planning Department had recommended to be built in their 1986 study.
  Chuck some those single company stations that will eventually need to be replaced while not being overbuilt like Engine 115s new station still would need to be some what larger then they are today as when most of them were built in the 1930s and before , the Chicago Fire Department didn’t really provide publice ambulance service so any new station would still need room for at least an ambulance and an additional vehicle to be safe. A nice sized 2 or 3 bay station would be fine but forget about 4 bay stations.

• #6 by Chuck on March 14, 2022 - 9:55 PM

  

  It would be interesting to see the City build a good utilitarian, no humongous frills single company house somewhere as a test replacement. These WPA houses aren’t getting any younger, and the apparatus aren’t getting smaller, and the City is going to find themselves in a world of hurt if they have to scramble for replacement quarters for a lot of companies.

• #7 by Tim on March 14, 2022 - 4:36 PM

  

  Harrry, what are you talking about? Boston is 75% more congested than Chicago? Did you make that up?

  What do you mean NYC has vehicles “we don’t like.” A Mack Granite wrecker and a Mack (MR) plow rig? What do you know about Macks? Macks held that city together during the War Years. Your comments are just bizarre.

• #8 by Bill Post on March 14, 2022 - 10:05 AM

  

  John Antkowski , as far as Engine 115’s new station goes, Engine 115 was in one of oldest active stations in the city and to be honest with you they should have replaced their old house literally 50 years ago. Back during the 1960s that CFD had hired a consultant who did several studies of the fire department. One in 1963, one in 1968 and the last was done in 1970/71. The 1963 and 68 reports had contained many recommendations for replaceing older fire stations and relocating some companies and Engine 115’s house was always on the replacement list.

  That said while Engine 115 should have gotten a new station many years ago. The Megastation was not necessary and it was overbuilt. Yes they definitely could have used another Truck company on the West End of the 22nd Battalion however a Super Station was a waste of money and space. I will tell you why. In 1986 the CFD did an in house study with their own people from the Research and Planning department and the study had concluded that several new stations were need on the far south side which was mainly in the 22nd Battalion and in the 24th Battalion. Those new stations would have been for Engines 93, 75 and 97 and all of those stations were also recommended for new Truck companies also. So instead of building one overbuilt station with 4 or 5 bays it would have been alot smart to build a 2 or 3 bay station for Engine 115 and then spend some the save money on the other new station that had been recommended. To be honest with you since those recommendation were done in 1986 I have no idea if the current management of the Chicago Fire Department is even aware of those studies but either way you are correct that Engine 115 new house is overbuilt and Engine 75 had been recommended for a new station at 13000 south Indiana also with a new Truck company. I’ll give you more information on that later.

• #9 by Bill Post on March 14, 2022 - 8:57 AM

  

  Wayne the answer is yes Engine 59s still district is south of the fire house and Engine 70’s is north of the fire station. I believer that Peterson and Elmdale avenues are supposed to be the border streets between the districts . Peterson is the next street south of the station going west of Clark street and Elmdale becomes the name of the street going east of Clark street.
  Do you know how they set up the border between Engine 115 and Engine 75 still district? For exanmple does Morgan street act as the still district border or is it another street that acts as their still district border . I know that 119th street near the fire station appears to have alot of empty lots and prarie and weeds growing. It is not that way around Engine 70 and 59 , in fact Engine 70 and 59 is in a pretty congested area. I know that east of Halsted it gets pretty busy for Engine 75 and Engine 115.

• #10 by crabbymilton on March 14, 2022 - 7:35 AM

  

  I hope for both CFD and CPD”s sake that FORD got quality problems worked out.
  Every time I go past a FORD dealer on my way to work, there are always EXPLORER squad cars parked there pending service mostly for recalls. Someone who works for a Waukesha county municipality says these cars are bad and not even the mechanics like them.

• #11 by Wayne on March 14, 2022 - 7:33 AM

  

  The engines that moved in together kept their still districts. They did the same thing when 59 and 70 moved in together.

• #12 by Bill Post on March 14, 2022 - 5:05 AM

  

  John Antkowski as far as moving mid management staff around, it actually goes deeper than that. The last major move which I had wrote that had taken place in 2015 really was a move to relocate and redraw 2 of the 4 city based fire districts.
  Prior to the move there were 2 Districts on the South Side , 1 in the center of th City which covered downtown, the west side and the near north lake front and then there was one on the north side.. That arrangement made perfect sense as the south side is larger in area then the other parts of the city that plan had gone into effect in 2012. Three years later in 2015 under Commissioner Santiago they got rid of one of the south side districts and put one on the west side.

  In 2015 they really didn’t move any battalions they just renumbered a few of them so Battalion 5 at Engine 55 became Battalion 12, Battalion 6 at OHare became Battalion 13, Battalion 12 at Engine 57 became Battalion 17 , Battalion 13 at Engine 95 became Battalion 18, Battalion 17 at Engine 60 became Battalion 5, Battalion 18 at Engine 54 became Battalion 19 and Battalion 19 had become Battalion 6.
  Yes it does appear to be political because District 1 headquarters and District 4 headquarters are just over 4 miles apart and they were both on the West side.
  When there were 2 Districts on the south side District 6 was at Engine 81 and District 5 was last at Engine 84s new house.

  Here is the old map.
  https://chicagoareafire.com/blog/2011/12/cfd-command-personnel-reorganization-update/#comments

  https://chicagoareafire.com/blog/2015/06/reorganization-of-the-chicago-fd-administrative-order-a-13-15/

• #13 by harry on March 13, 2022 - 11:05 PM

  

  mike what i mean about crappy areas is 8 is very congested in that area and 16 is midway area that is the south side however i love nyc which is 100 percent more congested than chicago even boston is about 75 percent more congested than chicago but the fact is massachusetts is the best state in my opinion as for nyc they have vehicles we dont like a mack granite flatbed tow truck that was built using an old fuel tanker and they also have a mack plow truck that was a fire truck

• #14 by John Antkowski on March 13, 2022 - 9:59 PM

  

  I don’t understand, why do they move mid management staff around so much? Are they trying to balance call volume? Or is it political? Take the far south side they really don’t need a Tower at Engine 115. A regular aerial device would have been sufficient. My opinion the Tower should have stayed at 72’s. I get it big houses are efficient but there is a lot of staff in one place. I’m still going to say that the CFD should have placed another Squad company somewhere down there maybe 81’s, Or 104’s. Does the giant houses share in the runs or are toned out to their still districts. The mega firehouse has its perks and in perfections.

• #15 by Bill Post on March 13, 2022 - 8:44 PM

  

  My previous posting had a typo. It was supposed to read that Battalion 12 was relocated from Engine 57 to Engine 55 not Engine 15. Either way Battalion 12 should have stayed at Engine 57 and Battalion 5 should have remained at Engine 55.

• #16 by Chicagoland fire photos on March 13, 2022 - 8:39 PM

  

  I was at engine 19 today and it has been put in service 8 is going in service Wensday

• #17 by Bill Post on March 13, 2022 - 8:38 PM

  

  Wayne I was thinking the same thing that you were.That the 8th Battalion has got some very nice areas within it and even in Engine 68’s still district it is the south end that is where most of the crime problems are because the north end and the west end were still pretty decent where Engine 68 borders with Engine 7 and 125. I haven’t been up there for a while however so things might have gotten worse but it was the south end and the southeast end that were the problem areas in 68’s district. As far as Battalion 16 goes it is pretty decent however there is a problem area on the west of end of Engine 34,s still district and is west of Cicero between 43rd and 45th streets approximately. There could be some other small pockets of problem areas but overall it is a pretty good Battalion district. As far as the 12th Battalion goes that is a place where people want to live in and there also quite a few pricey areas especially on the east end but most of the 12th Battalion is considered to be Upscale.

  Speaking of Battalion Districts in my opinion one of the biggest mistakes that the CFD management made was done in 2015 when they relocated a few of the Battalions and redrew some the Districts. Like as an example when the 12th was relocated to from Engine 57 to Engine 15 and the 17th was relocated from Engine 60 to Engine 57. They should have kept the Battalions and Districts as they were. It made more sense to have 2 Districts on the south side and let the first District take the west side. The 18th and 19th Battalions should have stayed where they were as well. I know why they changed some of them around and that was because of the District relocations but it made more sense if they would have moved the 4th District to the south side as the 1st and 4th Districts are too close together.

• #18 by Aidan Hughes on March 13, 2022 - 3:29 PM

  

  Where will the other six buggies go to? Besides, The new Ladder Trucks that CFD has on order may take awhile to complete due to the ongoing issues with the supply chain but I believe some of them are finished. The new E-One Tower Ladder is already finished and it might have arrived at the dealership and is expected to be assigned to Tower Ladder 24. Engines 8, 16, 19, 68, 89, 92, 95 and the Training Division are expected to get the new Engines. Engine 97’s new rig is already in service.

• #19 by Wayne on March 13, 2022 - 2:43 PM

  

  The 12th covers Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village. All very nice areas. The 12th is also one of the busier battalions. The 16th covers the area around Midway, and the only still district the 8th covers that is crappy is 68s. The 12th needs a new buggy bad, and I’m not sure about the others but supposedly the vehicles are replaced based on overall maintenance costs.

• #20 by Mike on March 13, 2022 - 2:01 PM

  

  Harry what does the area they are assigned to have to do with getting a new vehicle? Those battalions aren’t really in crappy areas as you say also.

  Although this may be noteworthy. When commissioner Quinn was still there usually the downtown and upscale areas got new rigs while the more blighted areas didn’t because of image and optics.

• #21 by John Antkowski on March 13, 2022 - 1:26 PM

  

  I guess black on the buggies is history being that the vehicle looks to be getting smaller. I still like the way they look. I was browsing the CFD shop numbers and they took delivery of all the 2022 E-One engines. I believe they are still expecting aerial apparatus. One Tower and rear mounts.

• #22 by harry on March 13, 2022 - 11:33 AM

  

  all crappy areas of the city but at least they are getting some new vehicles

Comments are closed.