This from Eric Haak:
These images come to you from the early morning hours of March 25, 1966. This was a 5-11 +1 special at 3951 South Canal Street. The building was owned at the time by the Siegmund Warner Company which produced some sort of sporting goods. The interesting thing is that the larger building that you see the fire building attched to still exists and has been vacant for a while. The 5th image shows a collapse in progress. The 6th image is taken looking north towards Pershing and both of the buildings in the background still stand. The last photo is looking west towards Normal Avenue. Still time is recorded as 0451. Hope you enjoy!
March 25, 1966. This was a 5-11 +1 special at 3951 South Canal Street in Chicago. The building was owned at the time by the Siegmund Warner Company. From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
From the collection of Eric Haak, photographer unknown
#1 by Phil Stenholm on November 18, 2017 - 12:25 PM
The 1958 GMC rig was placed into service as Water Tower No 4 (6-2-4) in 1958. It was not called a “snorkel” until after it went into service with the CFD and one of the firefighters who was operating the nozzle from the basket said it was like being underwater with the spray blowing into his face.
The original articulated boom was a Pitman “Giraffe” that was built for the City of Chicago Forestry Department, but the”Giraffe” was also used by power companies, telephone companies, railroads, billboard companies, and traffic signal companies for elevated installation, maintenance, and repair.
The “Giraffe” basket had capacity for just one man, and the CFD slung a hose-line alongside the boom to provide water supply for the deluge nozzle that was attached to the basket, so it was really not built for firefighting.
Shortly after the CFD began using the Giraffe at fires and the term “snorkel” was introduced, an engineer at the Pitman Company invented the “Snorkel,” which was essentially a firefighting version of the Giraffe. So the CFD Giraffe was sent back to the Pitman factory in St. Louis in 1959 and was converted from a “Giraffe” to a “Snorkel,” with a larger basket, a better turret nozzle, intake ports, and a pre-plumbed water-supply pipe.
The term :snorkel” 9with a small”s”) came to describe all firefightingf apparatus with an articulated boom, but the brand-name “Snorkel” (with a capitol “S”) was a Pitman product. There were several law-suits in the 1960’s pertaining to alleged patent violations regarding the Pitman “Snorkel.”
During the period of time that the “Giraffe” was back at the Pitman factory becoming a “Snorkel,” a 65-foot Pitman “Snorkel” demonstrator built on a Ford “C” Series chassis was loaned to the CFD, and it ran as Snorkel 1 for a few months. The City of Chicago had an option to purchase this rig, but other companies underbid Pitman for the contract to build the other six snorkels that were acquired by the City of Chicago in 1959-61 (four “Hi-Ranger” snorkels built by Mobile Aerial Towers of Fort Wayne, IN, and two “Stroto-Tower” snorkels built by Young Spring & Wire Corporation of Bowling Green, OH). Therefore, Pitman sold the “Snorkel” demonstrator that had been loaned to the CFD while the “Giraffe” was being converted to a “Snorkel” to another fire department.
Chicago’s 1958 GMC snorkel was a one-of-a-kind rig, and by 1967 it was at the end of its life expectancy as a front-line fire-fighting apparatus, where maintenance and repair costs exceeded the value of the apparatus, so a damaged transmission from getting stuck in a snow-drift was merely the coup-de-grace.
The two 1956 International/Pitman/Erlinder snorkels (SS1 and SS2) were removed from front-line service soon after SS3’s snorkel was taken out of service, so it wasn’t just the original 1958 GMC snorkel that was worn-out by 1967.
SS1’s snorkel apparatus was replaced by a new 1967 Pierce/Pitman “Snorkel” squad (with a 55′ boom) in April 1967, and SS2’s snorkel was taken out of service in 1968 and (like SS3’s snorkel the year before) was not replaced. So SS1 was the only CFD snorkel-squad in service post-1968 (it was disbanded in October 1980).
#2 by Bill Post on November 17, 2017 - 9:57 PM
That is a logical question Turk and the way the story goes is that the Snorkel was left stranded in the snowdrift, however it apparently had some damage or serious maintenance issues. The way I understand it is that even though it originally had gone in service in 1958 as a Snorkel, the vehicle was built as a tree trimmer for the either the parks department and the shops modified it. I believe that Fire Commissioner Quinn was holding out and would have eventually gotten a new Snorkel however the CFD was put on a tight financial leash by the first Daley administration. In mid 1967, the fire department started taking many of the remaining conventional squad companies out of service. At the beginning of 1967 there were 11 regular squad companies in service and by early 1968 there were only four if you included Salvage Squads 1 and 2 which had replaced Squads 1 and 2 a year earlier. They were still using the same apparatus and were at the same locations.
In mid 1967 the firefighters were givin another day off which in effect was a reduction in working hours. The days off were called “Daley Days” for the late Mayor Richard J Daley. There was a significant catch to that however, the city didn’t hire more firefighters to make up for the fact that there would be less people working per shift. By late 1967 and 1968 it wasn’t known if an engine or truck would be running with five or only four on a particular day. Before the reduction in working hours all of the companies ran with five except the squads had six. Due to the unpredictable manpower situation the CFD hired a consultant to better organize the department without adding firefighter positions. The study, known as the 1968 Maatman report named for the consultant Gerald Maatman, recommended that about two thirds of the engines and trucks run with four and the rest should continue running with five. The five-man companies were located in the busier areas and the high value district downtown. In 1968 the busier engines averaged about 1,500 or more runs and that was well before they were dispatched on EMS runs. The Maatman report recommended six, six-man Flying Manpower Squads be created to run with the four-man engines and trucks to compensate for the reduced manpower. The 7th Flying Manpower Squad was added after a subsequent report was issued in 1971.
The 1968 report also recommended that all three of the Snorkel squads be taken out of service and that only Salvage Squad 1 remain downtown to cover the center of the city. The report further recommended that much of the equipment from the three Snorkel squads be carried on the Flying Manpower Squads and Salvage Squad 1. The report also recommended that SCBA be put on the engines and trucks which weren’t yet equipped with them.
Since the Maatman report recommended the elimination of the Snorkel squads, it meant that Commissioner Quinn couldn’t replace Snorkel Squad 3 and 2’s out of service Snorkels. Since the Snorkel squads were Commissioner Quinn’s babies and he gave them all of the latest and newest equipment, he decided to keep Snorkel Squad 1 in service in the center of the city and took Salvage Squad 1 out of service. So that’s why Commissioner Quinn never replaced the Snorkels from SS3 and SS2. By the end of 1968, five more salvage squads had been created for a total of seven, however they were all out of service by 1973 which is when the Flying Manpower Squads were given new apparatus.
#3 by Mike L on November 17, 2017 - 4:27 PM
It was the same canvas or rubber material the coats were made from but it was not seen as something you would regularly wear; only at night when you wanted to “bunker” up to get dressed faster. Best example of this can still be seen on the reruns of Emergency. Silly reference but, seriously, watch the scenes at “night” on the show. They always have their gear by their bunks and get into the “bunker” pants when getting out of bed instead of putting their uniform pants on. That was indicative of the era and times before. LA and San Fran stayed in uniform pants only (no 3/4 boots) well into the 80s and early 90s before going into full turnout gear. Chicago, of course, was the last big city, if not any FD, to go into full turnout gear.
#4 by Turk_WLF on November 17, 2017 - 2:45 PM
I just don’t get why the original 1958 GMC/Pitman Snorkel was taken out of service if it just was stuck in a snow drift.
Anyways I really enjoy seeing the vintage pics, being just Apparatus or Fire Scenes.
#5 by David on November 17, 2017 - 1:45 PM
Also I’d like to ask – on the last pic just above the 1958 GMC/Pitman is something what looks like an IHC Travelall buggy. I know Battalion 25 at O’Hare had a similar rig at the time, but as this fire occured far from their response area I’d like to ask if anybody knows who could have brought the rig to the fire or if there were any other Battalions equipped with these off-road buggies back then?
#6 by David on November 17, 2017 - 1:08 PM
B Murphy, if you mean the modern style (today’s) bunker gear, where the pants are made from the same fire resistant material as the coat, then this ain’t the case as the guys on the photos wear just normal pants (as Mike L wrote). The modern bunker gear appeared much later during the late 80s or so. Hope this helps.
#7 by Mike L on November 17, 2017 - 8:28 AM
Some FF’s used “bunker” pants at night instead of putting their uniform pants and pull up boots on. The term “bunker” pants comes from having a pair of of pants and boots similar to today’s for use when sleeping in their bunk. Hence the term “bunker” pants. It’s that simple. It had nothing to do with any NFPA or other requirements. It was simply a time saving method in the middle of the night.
#8 by Bill Post on November 16, 2017 - 8:18 PM
One of the more interesting apparatus shots the last photo which featured the original 1958 GMC/Pitman Snorkel after it had been converted from Snorkel Company 1 to Snorkel Squad 3. You will notice that the metal awning that was over the roof and hood of Snorkel 1 was removed when they converted it from Snorkel 1 to Snorkel Squad 3. There aren’t many pictures around of Snorkel Squad 3. Within a year after of the photo, that vehicle got stuck in a snowdrift during the storm on January 26/27 1967 and was taken out of service. Snorkel Squad 3 continued operating for more than 2 years without having a Snorkel reassigned to the company. For those two years they still ran as a two-piece company however the first piece was either a spare engine, spare fog pressure, or a former high pressure wagon. The second piece was always a fog pressure unit like the other two Snorkel Squads had at the time.
The rig on the right side of the photo was either Snorkel Squad 1 or 2’s International Harvester/Strato Tower 40-foot Snorkel. The Snorkel in the center of the photo was Snorkel 4, one of two 1960 85-foot Ford High Ranger Snorkels.
#9 by B Murphy on November 16, 2017 - 6:59 PM
Great photos- thanks for sharing!
Question for the historians: did CFD use full bunker gear (turnout coats AND pants) in the 60’s? I was always under the impression that they used the long coat and pull-up boots until the adoption of the current ensemble within the past 15 years or so. There may have been a period of full bunkers in the late 1800’s to the 1920’s or just beyond also, but I thought the ‘modern era’ was coat and boots. You can see some guys in what certainly appears to be full bunker gear in some of the pics.