Another department in MABAS Division 12 has been added to the web site. The Oak Brook Terrace Fire District operates out of one station and covers a district of 2.5 square miles with a combination of full-time and part-time personnel. This station is packed with apparatus. They have two engines, a tower ladder, two ambulances, a TRT trailer, and a pickup. As mentioned in previous posts, they just put a brand new Spartan/Marion engine into service. This unit represents a transition for the department to black over red rigs from white over red. The other engine and tower ladder are both E-ONE units and the ambulances were built by Medtec.

Chicago is well known as the birthplace for the Snorkel’s use in the fire service, and the entire Chicago metropolitan area was a mecca for Snorkels. Units could be found with every boom length that was offered and built by several different body builders. Prior to purchasing the 95′ tower ladder from E-ONE in 1991, this department had an unusual 85′ Snorkel on a conventional GMC 7000 chassis. This was one of the only Snorkels in the area that was not built on a C-Series chassis from Ford, a cab-over International, or on a custom fire truck chassis.

The headquarters station for the Oak Brook Terrace Fire District. Larry Shapiro photo

This 1964, 85' Pitman Snorkel preceded the the E-ONE tower ladder in Oak Brook Terrace. Shown here at their old stations, the body was built by Pierce on a GMC 7000 chassis with a V-12 engine. Snorkel 86, as it was known at the time, had a 1,000-GPM pump and carried 200 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

Tags: 85' Snorkel, E-ONE, Ford C-Series, GMC 7000, International, Larry Shapiro, MABAS Division 12, Marion, MedTec, Oak Brook Terrace, Pierce, Snorkel, Spartan