As a follow-up to the recent article about the 1968 Mack CF/Pirsch 100-foot aerials with booster tanks, Bill Freidrich submitted these replications of Pirsch literature featuring a Chicago unit.
Vintage brochure from Peter Pirsch & Sons Company featuring a Chicago ladder truck. Bill Friedrich collection
Another page of the brochure showing the aerial raised and the jacks deployed. Bill Friedrich collection
#1 by Bill Post on July 8, 2012 - 1:19 PM
I think there’s no question that the Pirsch Aerial Ladders were amongst Chicago’s best and as the ad says on the bottom “strong safe and durable”. It is no coincidence that Chicago’s Pirsch Aerials had lasted a long time and that four of the original 1966 models were remounted on totally new chassis in 1988 and were assigned to busy companies.
The CF model Mack/ Pirsch’s were (in my opinion) amongst Chicago’s best looking Truck apparatus and even though Chicago had two orders of three each in 1968 and 1972 I can’t help but wonder if the reason that Chicago didn’t buy more of them was because of price and perhaps height clearance in some of Chicago’s old fire stations?