Skokie Snorkel 1 (later Truck 16) when it was in-service. Steve Redick photo
Jeff Rudolph spotted a familiar relic.
Skokie’s old ’69 Pirsch Snorkel. It was sadly heading to a scrapyard in Wisconsin. It was picked up from Jim Carews place in Bristol, WI. After it was placed out of service in the mid 90’s it was sold to Wally Mitchel, then Jim. It was used to put up radio towers and antennas. Take note of the missing basket, as well as anything else that was on it. Also look at the trailer its being hauled on. The guy only made it 1 mile and a State Trooper had him pulled over for an unsafe load.
The remnants of Skokie Truck 16, a 1969 Pirsch Snorkel heading to a scrap yard. Jeff Rudolph photo
A rear view of the Snorkel shows the bucket is missing. Jeff Rudolph photo
In other Skokie Fire Department news, Jeff mentions the following;
- Tower 16 is back from being refurbished by Pierce. It is not yet in service.
- Engine 17’s Pierce Saber will be in Tipton, IN at RPI for several months being refurbished.
#1 by Paul Forman on October 6, 2014 - 3:13 PM
Sad to see that truck go to the bone yard, it was fun to drive and operate, just an awesome machine.
We had it at BuCom for many years and it served us well. It was still a work horse after all these years. I spent many a summers cutting/trimming trees on my property with it as well as putting up sirens and towers.
With a tear in my eye – Paul
#2 by Adam on May 12, 2011 - 12:22 PM
Very sad to see that Snorkel in that condition. It looked beautiful in that earlier picture.
#3 by Jeff R. on May 11, 2011 - 5:00 PM
Tower 16 is in service.
#4 by Matthew G on May 8, 2011 - 2:05 PM
My apologies, Jeff. I had caught T-16 in my rear view mirror driving south from the station with its lights in operation and with the ambulance. It may have been being driven around, testing, who-knows-what and I had taken it for going into service. It looks like Pierce did a first class job refurbishing the big rig.
#5 by Jeff R. on May 8, 2011 - 10:57 AM
E17 will be the reserve engine after a new E17 is purchased. This will be sometime next year.
#6 by Jeff R. on May 8, 2011 - 10:56 AM
Tower 16 is not in service att. Its sits awaiting Pierce to come down and address some ladder issues. Also the rig is 21 years old, and was in rough shape. Everything was replaced except the cab and the ladder, which was gone over. All new torque box, pump rebuild, engine overhaul. Looks can be decieving.
#7 by Josh B on May 8, 2011 - 9:33 AM
Does anyone have a link to a picture of Skokie’s Refurbished tower 16?
#8 by Bill Post on May 7, 2011 - 9:40 PM
I didn’t even know that old Reserve Snorkel 16 was still around after all of these years. Not only was it Skokie’s first “elevating platform” but it was also used to open up Skokie’s new (at the time) ex Station 1 (Station 16) in 1969. I believe that Skokie had gotten rid of it around 1995 when it was their “reserve Truck” from 1988 until 1995.
#9 by Bill Post on May 7, 2011 - 9:26 PM
It is good to see that Skokie had decided to refurbish Tower Ladder 16 as the rig seemed to be a pretty solid and sturdy rig even before it was sent out to be rehabbed and refurbished. Considering the state of the economy and that the rig really doesn’t have that many “working fires” it made to perfect sense to refurbish it. I wonder how many additional years of “life expectancy” the refurbishment added to the rig (such as 5 or 10 extra years)?
I am surprised that they also expect to refurbish Engine 17. I had expected that they would have ordered a new rig for them because of the money saved from not buying a new rig for Tower Ladder 16.
#10 by Matthew G on May 7, 2011 - 5:04 PM
Jeff, Tower 16 is back in service. It was off on a run yesterday behind A-16 around 5pm.