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Posts Tagged Pirsch custom engine

Vintage fire scene from Villa Park

Aug 21

Posted by Admin in Apparatus on-scene, Fire Department History, Fire Scene photos | 8 Comments

This from Brian Murphy:

These photos are of a single-family house fire on the west side of Villa Park, taken during a very cold and snowy winter afternoon in the early- to mid-1990’s. At the time the pictures were taken, units from Villa Park (including call-backs), Elmhurst, Lombard, and Addison were either on-scene or en route. Unsure if it was a General Alarm or a First-Level MABAS Box.
All photos were taken using a 35mm pocket camera- no digital or smartphones back then!  Hope you enjoy the brief trip down memory lane!
I will send more as time permits!
Best Regards,
Brian Murphy
winter fire scene circa 1990

Line off of the rear of first-due engine from Villa Park Northside fire station. Brian Murphy photo

winter fire scene circa 1990

Fire venting through the roof; in foreground is Villa Park Engine 4 (reserve rig). Brian Murphy photo

winter fire scene circa 1990

Note smoke hanging low to ground- very cold day! Also note 2 1/2″ supply line from hydrant down the block at corner. Brian Murphy photo

winter fire scene circa 1990

Lots of cold smoke. Villa Park Engine 5 in background- late 60’s or early 70’s Pirsch. Brian Murphy photo

vintage custom Pirsch fire engine

Villa Park Engine 4- late 60’s or early 70’s Pirsch, similar to Engine 5. Brian Murphy photo

vintage custom Pirsch fire engine

Engine 4- officer’s side. Brian Murphy photo

Mack CF Pirsch aerial ladder

Elmhurst Truck 1- 1977 Mack/Pirsch 100′ aerial ladder. Refurbished late 80’s or early 90’s by RPI . Brian Murphy photo

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New engine in Antioch – update

May 19

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, Fire Service News, New Delivery | 1 Comment

Jeff rudolph submitted an image of the new UST engine in Antioch with some updates:

The new Antioch engine will run out of sta. 1, the ALF will go to sta. 3, and the ’73 Pirsch is gone.

Antioch Fire District Engine 1 Spartan UST

Antioch Fire District Engine 1 was built by UST on a 2011 Spartan Metrostar chassis. It has a 1,500-GPM pump and 750 gallons of water. Jeff Rudolph photo

The Daily Herald reports that Antioch will have a “wet-down” for the new engine on May 29th.

Two years after it originally received a federal grant, the Antioch Fire Department is gearing up to welcome its newest fire engine with a ceremony from the time of horse-drawn wagons. … the department will host an event featuring the century-old rituals of “wetting down” the new truck, pushing out the old truck and pushing in the new truck.

The ceremony is set for May 29 at 7 p.m. at Fire Station 1, 835 Holbek Drive. It is open to the public.

“In days gone by, when the horses were pulling the fire engines, the tradition was to wet down the wheels and wipe them off and then push the fire pump into the station,” fire Chief John Nixon said. “They wet down the wheels because they wanted to maintain the wooden spokes, so they wouldn’t come into disrepair.”

The truck may look a bit different from the others. The department’s apparatus committee decided the new truck will feature a traditional black roof and red body, as opposed to most of Antioch’s trucks that have a white roof.

“The committee felt this was an opportunity to move ahead as the Antioch Fire Department turns 100 years old next March … (and) adopt a new tradition,” Nixon said. “Black over red is very popular in Chicagoland.”

The truck will also display a newly designed Antioch Fire Department [scramble].

Read the entire article HERE.

thanks Chris

The last area “wet-down” was in Buffalo Grove.

Antioch Fire District Engine 2121 2001 American LaFrance Eagle

This engine was moved to Station 3.

Antioch Fire District 1973 Pirsch engine

This engine went to a private collector.

Also at Station 1 in Antioch is the Lake County Quad 2 Rehab 2 Support Unit.

Lake County Illinois Quad 2 Fire Department Rehab unit

This 2004 Ford F550/Supreme Body unit is the Lake County Quad 2 Rehab Unit 2. Jeff Rudolph photo

 

 

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Bloomingdale has been added to the site

Jul 30

Posted by bgshap in Fire Department News, New Listing, Patch | 4 Comments

Bloomingdale Fire Protection District No. 1 headquarters fire station 1

Bloomingdale Fire Station 1 on Bloomingdale Road houses the fire department headquarters and the emergency dispatch center. Larry Shapiro photo

The Bloomingdale Fire Protection District No 1 in MABAS Division 12 has been added to the site. Bloomingdale has three stations though one is strictly used for storage. Station 2 at 6N480 Keeney Road (which has a Roselle address) was originally part of the Keeneyville Fire District. This station has two spare engines and an out-of-service ambulance which may be converted to a dive unit.

Bloomingdale Fire Department ambulance

This out-of-service ambulance might be converted into a newer dive unit to replace Dive 9 which is assigned a 1997 Freightliner FL50/Medtec. Larry Shapiro photo

Bloomingdale has their own dispatch center in the basement of Station 1 which serves Bloomingdale in addition to the Elk Grove Township Fire Protection District and theItasca Fire Protection District.

Bloomingdale runs a fleet of Pierce apparatus which includes a tower ladder and three engines on a Lance chassis, one engine on an Enforcer chassis, and an engine on a Quantum chassis. They have on order a 2,000-gallon pumper/tanker on a Velocity chassis which is due this year. The two in-service ambulances as well as the Dive Squad all feature boxes built by Horton.

Bloomingdale Fire Protection District Engine 1 Pierce Quantum

The newest engine in Bloomingdale is this 2005 Pierce Quantum assigned to Engine 1. John Tulipano photo

Prior to becoming a Pierce customer, Bloomingdale was exclusively a Pirsch customer for many years. In 1981, they received the last engine on a custom Pirsch chassis that matched two engines and a 1972 85′ mid-ship quint.

Bloomingdale Fire Protection District 1981 Pirsch custom pumper

In 1981, Bloomingdale Engine 2 featured the last custom cab built by hand at the Pirsch factory in Kenosha. From this point forward, Pirsch purchased stock cabs from Truck Cab Manufacturers (TCM) and applied a trim package to make their appearance unique to Pirsch products. Larry Shapiro collection

Bloomingdale Fire Protection District custom Pirsch mid-mount quint

Bloomingdale Truck 4 was built in 1972 to match one Pirsch engine already in the Bloomingdale fleet complete with the edge warning lights. They would later have a total of four matching custom Pirsch units. Larry Shapiro collection

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