Chicago FD history « chicagoareafire.com

Chicago FD history

From the collection of Wayne Stuart – unknown date, location, and photographer.

From the collection of Wayne Stuart – unknown date, location, and photographer.

Tags: Chicago FD Hi-Ranger Snorkel, Chicago Fire Department history, historic fire truck pictures, historic truck photos, historical photos of Chicago Fire Department, Quinn's Snorkel No 3, Wayne Stuart

This entry was posted on October 14, 2015, 7:00 AM and is filed under Fire Truck photos, Historic fire apparatus. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

12 Comments

#1 by Bill Post on October 19, 2015 - 8:16 PM

Yes the link did work. Thanks Ed
#2 by Ed M on October 19, 2015 - 4:21 PM

I am not sure if this will work but the link below goes back to April 2012 and has a pic of the C model and some info.

http://chicagoareafire.com/blog/2012/04/vintage-cfd-fire-photos-7/
#3 by Bill Post on October 19, 2015 - 3:02 PM

David yes I do recall inquiring about that Ford C cab rig that was on Snorkel 1 in 1959. Someone had sent in a photo when it was already being used in Indiana long after it’s Chicago stint. I actually saw it being used at the State street Christmas parade for as a TV camera boom in 1959, There is an aerial shot of the Ford C model being used at an extra alarm fire in the CFD’s 1959 annual report. As it is an aerial shot it really isn’t that good but it can still be identified. I don’t have that annual report but years ago I did have it when I was still a kid. In those days the CFD issue some nice glossy annual reports. The last one like that was issued in 1969. A few years ago a saw an annual report however it’s been a few years so I don’t know if they once again stopped issuing them. There are some cities that issue some pretty informative ones and some even have some very good graphics that read like a magazine.
#4 by David on October 19, 2015 - 9:35 AM

Bill, thank you much for the detailed info on both the Snorkels and the Snkl Squad rigs. From what I’ve seen, there was also the 1959 Ford C demo Snorkel which ran for a while as Snorkel 1 back in 1959. I think we spoke about this rig here some time ago, but I couldn’t find much info on this apparatus so far, so I’m not sure who was the manufacturer of the boom on this rig or what size it was. I’m just wondering if there were any good photos taken of this rig when it ran as Snorkel 1.
#5 by Bill Post on October 18, 2015 - 3:25 PM

Chicago also had two 40-foot Snorkel squads delivered in 1962. The chassis and cabs were 1956 International Harvester cab over engine models and were originally two of five High Pressure Wagons delivered in 1956. The High Pressure Wagons were heavy-duty hose wagons that had carried 3.5 inch “boat hose” and were equipped with one or two turrets behind the cab on the hose body. Two of the wagons were taken out of service in 1961 and had squad bodies installed with 40-foot Snorkels. The bodies were built by the Ehrlinder company. As far as the booms go I am not sure if they were also built by Ehrlinder or if they were built by Pitman or some other builder. Snorkel Squad 1 was put in service on September 12th 1962 and Snorkel Squad 2 was put in service on September 4th 1963.
#6 by Bill Post on October 18, 2015 - 1:40 PM

David there was an editing problem with my comments on the early Chicago Snorkels so I will correct and clarify it. Snorkel’s 2 and 3 were the 1959 model Snorkels (in service in 1959) while Snorkels 4 and 5 were 1961 models and they both went in service in 1961. Snorkel 4 didn’t replace any Snorkel, while Snorkel 5 replaced Snorkel 3 which was originally located with Engine 35 and Truck 28 so that Snorkel 3 could be relocated to the south side while Snorkel 1 was relocated to the west side. The reason for those relocations were logistical and done because some of the Snorkels couldn’t fit into the fire stations where they were needed. Snorkel 1 was the only Snorkel that could fit into a station in the 2nd Division (on the west side) so Snorkel 1 was moved from Engine 50 (5000 S Union) to Engine 109 (2458 S Whipple). As Snorkel 5 wouldn’t fit into Engine 50’s house because of the large overhang on the 85-foot Snorkel, Snorkel 3 (65-foot) instead was relocated to Engine 50’s house on Sept 22nd 1961, while Snorkel 5 went into service at Engine 35’s house (where it did fit) instead on the same date. So it really wasn’t literally a replacement but was a relocation of 3 Snorkel companies on Sept 22nd 1961. Even Snorkel 3 was a tight fit in Engine 50’s quarters so on 3/24/1962 Snorkel 3 was relocated to Engine 84’s house at 5721 S Halsted where they had exchanged quarters with Light Wagon 3 which was relocated to Engine 50’s quarters on the same day.

Snorkels 6 and 7 were also delivered in 1961 however they were matching 70-foot Snorkels and were built by Strato Tower also on Ford chassis. While Snorkel 6 was put in service in late 1961 at Engine 46’s house, Snorkel 7 didn’t go into service until January 11th 1962 at Engine 112’s old station at 1732 W Byron.

I found the official height rating of the original seven Snorkels.
Snorkel 1 50-foot GMC Pitman (1958) (Modified and converted to Snorkel Squad 3 in 1965)
Snorkel 2 75-foot Ford High-Ranger (1959)
Snorkel 3 65-foot Ford High-Ranger (1959)
Snorkel 4 80-foot Ford High-Ranger (1961)
Snorkel 5 80-foot Ford High-Ranger (1961) (only Chicago Snorkel equipped with double turrets)
Snorkel 6 70-foot Ford Strato-Tower (1961)
Snorkel 7 70-foot Ford Strato-Tower (1961)

David Chicago was trying different Snorkel Height at the time and as the Snorkel was a new apparatus the manufacturers were trying different heights as well. Chicago’s tallest Snorkel is the current 1982 Seagrave Pierce 85 foot Snorkel and after the original Snorkels 4 and 5 which were officially 80 foots but if you included the chassis height of the rig then they could have been possibly considered close to 85 feet. Most of Chicago’s regular Snorkels were 75 feet however Chicago also ran with 65 and 55 foot models and Chicago’s original 2 Snorkel Squads with 40 foot models. Chicago also ran with 50 foot Snorkels too such as the Original Snorkel 1.
#7 by David on October 18, 2015 - 7:14 AM

Bill, thanks a lot for all the info! So the two 1959 Snorkels were really both different size of the boom. I know I’ve seen a promotional photo of these two rigs together with the original 1958 GMC/Pitman where is slightly visible that the two ’59 rigs are both different size. I always wondered if the reason was to test the different sizes to see which one’s gonna better fit into the Chicago environment or they simply purchased what was available at the moment.
Also I’d like to ask, the two snorkels you wrote about in the 2nd paragraph (” Snorkel 2 went in service around 1961 both of the new Snorkels were taller and were both around 80 to 85 feet tall…”), were these a replacement for the 1959 rigs shown on the photo here??!
#8 by Bill Post on October 17, 2015 - 9:22 PM

David and John the Snorkel that you are looking at was one of 2 similar Snorkels that were delivered in 1959. The reason that I say similar is because Snorkel 3 was smaller than Snorkel 2. Snorkel 3 had a reach of about 65 feet and Snorkel 2 was about 75 feet. That might not be exact but Snorkel 3 was definitely shorter then 2. From 1959 through about 1961 Chicago had run with 3 Snorkels.

Snorkel 1 which was originally Water Tower 4 had been located at Engine 1’s current house and when the two rigs that you are talking about were delivered, Snorkel 1 was moved to Engine 50’s old house which was located on the 4600 block of south Wentworth at the time. Snorkel 2 went in service around 1961 both of the new Snorkels were taller and were both around 80 to 85 feet tall, In addition to new bodies equipped with cabinets those 2 Snorkels were delivered and went in service without the traditional Chicago style black cab roof.

Snorkel 5 had two turrets on the basket while Snorkel 4 had one. Snorkel 4 was put in service at Engine 25’s new quarters (at the time) which was on the southwest corner of Taylor and Clinton. Snorkel 5 however replaced Snorkel 3 at Engine 35’s old station while Snorkel 3 was relocated first to Engine 50’s current house at 5000 s Union and a short time later they were relocated to Engine 84’s old station on the 5700 block of south Halsted. Neither of those 2 stations had enough clearance for the large front overhang of Snorkel 5’s larger 85-foot boom.

You also may be wondering why Snorkel 3 replaced Snorkel 1 at Engine 50. That happened because there was no station in the old 2nd Division on the far west side that could fit a Snorkel bigger than the 50-foot. As Snorkel 1 had a 50-foot boom and didn’t have a large front overhang they were able to move Snorkel 1 into Engine 109’s old quarters at 2458 S Whipple in the old 2nd Division.

In those days Chicago had 7 Fire Divisions and the idea was to have a Snorkel located in each division. Ultimately Snorkel 1 was assigned to the 2nd Division and Snorkel 2 was eventually assigned to the 4th Division when Engine 28’s new (current) station was opened. Snorkel 3 was assigned to the 7th Division, even though they were only 2 blocks from the 4th Division. Snorkel 4 was assigned to the 1st Division and Snorkel 5 was assigned to the 6th Division. Snorkel 6 was assigned to the 5th Division and Snorkel 7 was assigned to the 3rd Division.
#9 by John on October 16, 2015 - 7:31 PM

Wasn’t one a 75′ and the other an 85′? I know there was a ’60 Ford that had more enclosed bodywork,and I think,another that had a Pitman boom.
#10 by jsvens on October 15, 2015 - 10:03 AM

I’m going to guess that this rig was sitting here: 41°50’12.4″N 87°42’05.9″W . You can enter these coordinates into a search on Google Maps. Basically south of 31st, on the west side of the shops building. On Google Map street view from 31st, you can identify the building in the photo, and you can see the remnants of the railroad track in the gravel.
#11 by David on October 15, 2015 - 2:03 AM

Looks like one of the 1959 Ford/Hi-Rangers, anybody knows how many of these CFD actually purchased back then?? From what I’ve seen on the pics, there were at least two of these rigs and it always looked to me like they were both different size of the boom.
#12 by Rdengr39 on October 14, 2015 - 4:45 PM

That location almost looks like the CFD shops.