This from Jeff Rudolph:
Greeting from sunny, warm Florida. In my travels around I located the remains of an old Calumet City, IL American LaFrance engine on some property near Ruskin, FL. Engine 304 has clearly seen better days. Yes there are 2 trees growing up through it. The owner of the property was from East Troy, WI, and moved several vehicles down here years ago.
The photo of 304 as it used to look is a Bill Friedrich photo.
Jeff Rudolph
Jeff Rudolph photo
For #TBT from Larry Shapiro;
Elgin Engine 2 2009 KME LMFD Predator Severe Service 2000/500 GSO 7405 plus Engines 1 and 5
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
ALMOST DONE
All three of Evanston’s new fire stations were completed and placed into service during 1955; Station # 5 at 2830 Cental Street on January 25th, Station # 2 at 702 Madison Street on March 12th, and Station # 3 at 1105 Central Street on September 3rd.
While waiting for its new quarters to be completed, Engine Co. 23 and the reserve truck were temporarily relocated from Fire Station # 3 on Green Bay Road to the new Station # 5 in northwest Evanston, as Station # 3 was closed on January 25th. It its final days as a working firehouse, the aging apparatus floor was supported from below by wooden beams that were set-up temporarily in the basement. Because Engine Co. 23 needed to move out of Station # 3 ASAP, Engine Co. 25 remained at Station # 1 for most of 1955, and did not relocate from Station # 1 to Station # 5 until the new Station # 3 was completed in September.
Chief Dorband, the Fire Prevention Bureau, and Truck Co. 22 were relocated from Station # 1 to the new Station # 2 on Madison Street on March 12th, and the two assistant chiefs assigned as platoon commanders at Station # 1 were relieved of company officer responsibilities and were provided with a Chevrolet station-wagon (known as “F-2”) and a driver at this time. As such, the platoon commanders were now akin to a Chicago F. D. battalion chief. Chief Dorband only responded to working fires. If he was off-duty, his driver based at Station # 2 would pick him up at his residence at 1424 Wesley Avenue and drive him to the fire.
The Evanston Fire Department was increased from 88 men to 100 on April 1, 1955, as Peter Erpelding, David Henderson, Roger Lecey, Roger Schumacher, Joseph Burton, Patrick Morrison, Robert Pritza, Richard Ruske, Donald Searles, Frank Sherry Jr, and Richard Zrazik were hired, and Edward Pettinger returned from a leave of absence. Firemen James Wheeler and William Windelborn were promoted to captain, replacing the two platoon commanders as company officers.
Squad 21 continued to respond to all inhalator calls and special rescues, but beginning on April 1st, it also responded to ALL fire calls – not just working structure fires — city-wide with a four-man crew, or at least three-men if a man was absent. Squad 21 did not have a company officer, so the platoon fire equipment mechanic was normally in charge of the crew. In 1956, Squad 21 responded to more than 400 calls, which was 25% more than the busiest engine company (Engine Co. 24)!
While the rig had a 1000-GPM pump, a 100-gallon water tank, and a booster hose reel mounted atop its body, Squad 21 did not have a hose bed or standard hose load, so it could not run as an engine company. However, it could respond to a minor fire in a pinch, or initiate a limited fire-attack with its booster after arriving at a structure fire if no engine company was on the scene.
Engine Co. 21, Truck Co. 21, Engine Co. 25, Squad 21, Engine Co. 22, and Truck Co. 22, were twelve-man companies, with six men assigned to each platoon, and Engine Co. 23, and Engine Co. 24 were ten-man companies, with five men assigned to each platoon. However, the driver for the platoon commander (F-2) was assigned administratively to Squad 21, and the driver for the Chief Fire Marshal (F-1) was assigned administratively to Engine Co. 22, so Squad 21 and Engine Co. 22 actually had one less man available each shift than the other twelve-man companies.
One man each shift was on a Kelly Day, so the actual company staffing each shift was five men on Engine Co. 21, Truck Co. 21, Engine Co. 25, Squad 21 (including F-2 driver), Engine Co. 22 (including F-1 driver), and Truck Co. 22, or four men if the company was running a man short, and the actual company staffing each shift on Engine Co. 23 and Engine Co. 24 was four men, or three men if the company was running a man short. The truck company always took the extra man from the engine company if the truck company was down a man but the engine company at that station was at full-strength.
There was a platoon commander assigned to each shift, and in addition, one man each shift was assigned as the driver and radio operator for the platoon commander (F-2), and one man each shift was assigned as the driver and administrative assistant for the chief (F-1). The buggy-drivers were also the EFD’s photographers. Also, one man was assigned as a fire prevention inspector and administrative assistant to the FPB chief (F-3).
As of April 1, 1955, the maximum aggregate shift staffing in the Evanston Fire Department was 39 if all companies were at full strength, and the absolute minimum staffing was 31 if all companies were running a man short at the same time. Companies typically ran at full-strength November – March when vacations were not permitted, and then would sometimes run a man short in the spring, summer, and early autumn, when vacations were permitted, and when overtime comp days accrued during the winter months could be spent.
The 39-man maximum / 31-man minimum restored EFD shift staffing to the years 1933-42, back before the first Kelly Days were implemented. Along with acquiring new apparatus and constructing new fire stations, restoring shift staffing to pre-World War II levels had been one of the three main goals of Chief Dorband’s modernization plan.
This from Danny Nelms:
From Virginia Fire Trucks FB
Wakefield in Sussex County took delivery of their newest apparatus recently . Heavy Rescue 290 is a 2003 Seagrave TWOODA with Seagrave # 78A75. This unit formerly served St Charles, Illinois where it was painted black over red. Prior to being delivered to Wakefield it received some touch up paint and new graphics. Heavy Rescue 290 carries a compliment of hydraulic and extrication equipment and is powered by a Detroit Series 60 motor. Current Squad 290 is a 1988 Ford L8000-Marion which was originally from Mapleshade, New Jersey. It will be sold once Heavy Rescue 290 enters service. Special thanks to Chief Bowden and John Rose for their generosity in moving the rig for photos.
Lawrence Trey White photo
Lawrence Trey White photo
From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
From Mike Summa for #TBT:
For TBT-The Homewood Fire Dept. once utilized this 1989 PemFab/3D as Squad 546.
Mike Summa photo
and from our archives:
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
From Steve Redick:
February 12, 1971 4-11 at 15th & Karlov
photographer unknown
From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
After Squad 21 was placed into service in September 1952, manpower assignments were switched around slightly at Station # 1. The two extra men formerly assigned each shift to the two downtown “high-value district” companies – Engine 25 and Truck 21 – were moved to Squad 21, as the squad responded with a two-man crew to all inhalator calls (about 100 per year in the 1950’s), replacing Engine 21 as the city-wide inhalator squad, and thus keeping Engine 21 available for fires. Additional inhalators were kept in ready-reserve at Station # 1 and could be loaded onto any EFD vehicle in case Squad 21 was not available.
Squad 21 did not respond only to inhalator calls. With four mounted searchlights, a portable gas-powered generator, power tools, smoke-ejector fans, portable floodlights, extra salvage covers, two portable turret nozzles, a backboard, a Stokes basket, a large supply of rope, rappelling gear, and an oxygen-acetylene cutting torch on-board, Squad 21 also responded to all working structure fires, rescue calls, and any other incident that required the many specialized tools carried aboard the rig.
As a result of placing Squad 21 into service with a two-man crew, each of the engine and truck companies at Station # 1 now operated with a maximum five man-crew each shift, although each company could “run short” with a four-man crew if one of the company’s men was absent due to vacation, illness, or injury. With Squad 21 always staffed by two men, and with a chief’s driver always on duty, the maximum daily staffing at Station #1 each shift remained 23 men, although it could be as few as 19 if all four companies at Station # 1 were running a man short.
The engine companies at the other three fire stations continued to operate as they had since the additional Kelly Day was added in 1948, with a four-man crew scheduled each shift, although each of the companies could run with a three-man crew if a man was absent due to vacation, illness, or injury. This resulted in an aggregate maximum daily shift staffing at the four fire stations of 35 men if no firefighters were absent, and an absolute minimum of 28 if all seven companies were to run one-man short at the same time. Because Evanston firefighters were not permitted to take vacations or use overtime comp days November through March, it was not uncommon for a shift to be operating at maximum strength or near-maximum strength on any given winter day. Conversely, it was not uncommon for several companies or sometimes even all seven companies to be operating a man short on any given day in the spring, summer, and early fall.
Annual salaries in the EFD in 1953 ranged from $7,200 (Chief Fire Marshal) to $5,484 (Assistant Chief Fire Marshal) to $5,100 (Captain) to $4,770 (Lieutenant) to $4,620 (both for Mechanic and Administrative Assistant) to $4,332 (Fireman I) to $4,272 (Fireman II) to $4,200 (Fireman III) to $4,080 (Fireman Recruit).
During 1953, Capt. Lincoln Dickinson (Engine Co. 23) retired after twenty years of service, and Lt. Knud Hanson (Truck Co. 22) retired after 26 years of service. Back when he was rookie firefighter, Capt. Dickinson was one of the three members of the EFD who were laid-off on January 1, 1933, so his twenty years of service was spread over two separate tours. The three Evanston firefighters who were laid-off during the Great Depression did not receive credit toward retirement while laid-off.
To fill the void left by the departure of Capt. Dickinson and Lt. Hanson, Lt. Erv Lindeman was promoted to captain and assigned as company officer of Engine Co. 24, Capt. Ronald Ford was transferred from Engine Co. 24 to Engine Co. 23, and firemen Harry Schaeffer Jr and Richard Schumacher were promoted to lieutenant in January 1954. Lt. Schumacher was the first Evanston firefighter hired after World War II to be promoted. Both Lt. Schaeffer and Lt. Schumacher would eventually retire as assistant chiefs.
After the plethora of retirements in the 1940’s, only seven Evanston firefighters who were not officers retired in the 1950’s, including firemen John Lee (26 years of service), Bernard Lindberg (26 years), John Linster (26 years), and William Schreiber (22 years) in 1950, Francis Williams (24 years) in 1951, John Kabel (20 years) in 1953, and Charles Bammesberger (28 years) in 1955. Fireman Kabel was one of the men laid-off on January 1, 1933, so like Capt. Dickinson, his career was interrupted, and so his service was spread over two separate tours.
Patterned after the Chicago Fire Department’s box alarm card system, the Mutual-Aid Box Alarm System (or “MABAS”) was created in 1968 to provide the fire departments of northern Illinois with a systematic pre-planned mutual-aid response to fires, medical emergencies, special rescues, etc,
Although it wasn’t formally established until 15 years later, the origin of one of the MABAS divisions can perhaps be found in July 1953, when a number of North Shore fire departments that would eventually form MABAS Division 3, including Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Northbrook, Highland Park, and the Glenview Naval Air Station, participated in a day-long joint training exercise held under the auspices of the Northeastern Illinois Fire Chiefs Association at New Trier High School in Winnetka. The need for the joint training exercise was noted after several local fire departments responded into the Village of Wilmette on November 28, 1952, assisting the Wilmette F. D. in battling a large fire at St. Augustine’s Episcopal church at 1122 Oak Ave. Fire departments provided mutual-aid to each other long before there was a MABAS, but it tended to be somewhat disorganized and at times a bit chaotic, and that was apparently the case at the St. Augustine’s church fire.
The 1953 joint training exercise gave the participating north suburban fire departments an opportunity to practice working together at a complex incident. Chief Henry Dorband, both platoons of Engine Co. 23 manning Engine 23 and Truck 23, Engine Co. 25 manning both Engine 25 and Squad 22, Truck Co. 22 , and Squad 21 represented the Evanston Fire Department at the exercise, with Engine Co. 25 commanded by platoon drillmaster Capt. Ed Fahrbach, and with Truck Co. 22 led by platoon commander Assistant Chief Michael Garrity. Recently promoted Assistant Chief William Murphy — commander of the Fire Prevention Bureau — stayed behind in Evanston and served as acting platoon commander, with Engine Co. 21, Engine Co. 22, Engine Co. 24, and Truck Co. 21 covering the city while the other companies were in Winnetka.
From MacQueen Emergency:
Congratulations to Markham Fire Department! The department took delivery of their new #Pierce Saber® Pumper.
Pierce composite
You are currently browsing the archives for the Fire Department History category.
Firehousedecalsandmore