This from Steve Redick:
Recently I shared a brochure from Ahrens Fox. In it was a photo from the big grain elevator conflagration in 1939. I have shared two more press photos and part 1 of the Underwriters report on the fire. This is very cool stuff if you take the time to read through it. This was an amazing fire, and a classic big city response. It’s worth a good look … more to follow …
#1 by David on March 1, 2015 - 8:50 AM
Noticed that too, I guess they just wanted to make it sound more “sensational” because in fact there were numerous fires which were (sometimes a lot) larger and even more notorious than this one. Except of the Great fire of 1871, I’d say definitely the 1874 “second Great Chicago fire”, the 1922 Burlington office building fire and also the massive 1934 Stockyards fire which was fought by some 1600 Firefighters.
#2 by Drew Smith on February 28, 2015 - 11:16 PM
I agree the siren sounds were probably added. Reminds me of a WW2 movie when the Nazi’s would raid England. Near the end of the newsreel, did anyone catch the narrator’s incorrect statement that this was the “…most disastrous fire in Chicago’s history!” I guess those Brits forgot it was their Queen Victoria that sent books to the City to build Chicago’s first public library following that small fire of 1871 that started at the site of the now-Quinn academy.
#3 by David on February 27, 2015 - 1:03 PM
I’d say some of the sounds were added to the footage by the newsreel company as I cannot really imagine what would have produced this sound at the place, definitely not the rigs. Anyway this must have been some job, the heat when some of the walls gave way must have been just incredible.
#4 by John on February 27, 2015 - 12:33 PM
The siren in that clip almost sounds like a Stuka dive bomber siren.
#5 by David on February 27, 2015 - 12:11 PM
Guys, check out this newsreel clip from the fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8vlXkUEik4
#6 by John on February 27, 2015 - 10:45 AM
Thanks for the info,Phil.After reading the 2nd installment,it said the Medill was built in 1908,so it had to be an earlier one.
#7 by Phil Stenholm on February 27, 2015 - 8:57 AM
JOHN: There were indeed two CFD fireboats named “Joseph Medill.”
There had been as many as five fireboats in service with the Chicago Fire Department at one time (37, 41, 58, 71, and 92), but by 1939 there were only two fireboats left in service, the “Fred A. Busse” (Engine 37) berthed at either the Chicago River & the Franklin Street Bridge or at Navy Pier (depending on the time of the year) and the “Joseph Medill” (Engine 58) berthed at the 92nd Street Bridge & the Calumet River. Both crews lived aboard their boats, although Engine 58’s old adjacent land quarters was still existent (although closed).
The “Fred A. Busse” was the first fireboat purchased by the City of Chicago in almost 30 years, and the “Joseph Medill” (first version) was one of two identical fireboats purchased in 1909, the other being the “Graeme Stewart.” Engine Co. 37 operated the Medill and Engine Co. 58 operated the Stewart for many years. When the Busse was placed into service in 1937, it was assigned to Engine Co. 37, the Stewart was scrapped, and the Medill was transfered from Engine Co. 37 to Engine Co. 58. Engine Co. 41 operated the slightly older (1899) “Illinois” until 1934, when the company was disbamded, the fireboat was scrapped, and the company quarters at the Throop Street Bridge & the South Branch of the Chicago River was closed.
The Medill (the first one) was retired in 1943, leaving the Busse as the only fireboat in service for a few years, until the second “Jospeh Medill” (Engine 37) and the “Victor Schlaeger” (Engine 58) were placed into service in 1949-50, as the Busse was transferred to Engine Co. 41. (Engine Co. 41 and Engine Co. 58 were reactivated at their former berths at this time, as the CFD once again had three fireboats in service). The CFD operated with the three fireboats throughout the 50’s, 60′, and 70’s, until Engine Co. 41 was disbanded and the Fred A. Busse was retired in 1981.
BTW, the CFD did operate three auxiliary fireboats (each with a three-man crew) during the period of time when the CFD had just the one fireboat (Engine 37) in service 1943-48, each of the auxiliary fireboats being an ex-USCG 36′ Boston Whaler with a 500 GPM pump and a turret nozzle. One auxiliary fireboat was assigned to Engine 41’s old berth & quarters at the Throop Street Bridge, another was assigned to Engine 58’s old berth and quarters at the 92nd Street Bridge and the Calumet River, and the third was assigned to Engine Co. 130’s quarters at Navy Pier (which was under control of the U. S. Navy and closed to the public 1941-46).
The Chicago Fire Department and the U. S. Navy jointly provided fire protection to Navy Pier during WWII, with CFD Engine Co. 130 (operating with a 1917 Seagrave 750 GPM pumper), Engine Co. 37 (operating with the fireboat “Fred A. Busse”), and one of the auxiliary fireboats assigned to Navy Pier, along with a high-pressure fog rig that was staffed by USN personnel.
#8 by John on February 26, 2015 - 8:57 PM
Since the report says it’s the Medill,was there an earlier boat with that name,as E58?
#9 by Drew Smith on February 26, 2015 - 7:17 PM
The Medill and Schlager weren’t built until 1949. http://chicagoareafire.com/blog/2011/11/chicago-fire-boat-history/
That’s why I thinks it’s the Busse.
#10 by Rj on February 26, 2015 - 6:06 PM
Isn’t that the Victor L. Schlager? Looks the same, were there twin boats in the 40’s?
#11 by Drew Smith on February 26, 2015 - 12:32 PM
First photo looks like the fire boat Busse which would have been only two years old. Also shows elevated turret platform which I have not seen deployed in previous photos of the Busse.