This from Steve Redick:
These are some great shots taken in the 70s. I would guess 73 or so … gotta love the “monument” in the background of the engine shot. 54’s Seagrave engine was a great rig, and how could ‘ya not like the traditional Seagrave aerials as well. This was a real ghetto fire company during the years of heavy activity. I believe my dad took these images when he was in the “real” 12th battalion.
The other photos are the kind of stuff SS3 ran with most of the time. 1956 IH former pressure wagons with stuff just thrown in the hosebed. Not sure who took these images but they are dated August 1969. The scenery is typical of their district. All the fires they went to and the primitive tools they used.
Steve
Chicago FD Engine 54. Warren Redick photo
Chicago FD Truck 20. Warren Redick photo
Chicago FD SS3. photographer unknown
Chicago FD SS3. photographer unknown
#1 by Bill Post on December 18, 2017 - 6:33 AM
Correction I had meant High Pressure 8 was on the north side not Squad 8. They were assigned an old Squad rig however.
#2 by Bill Post on December 18, 2017 - 6:13 AM
Phil Stenholm thanks for you enlightening history into the auxiliary squads and the high pressure wagons. High Pressure 7 actually was in service at Engine 12’s house since May 1932 after being with Engine 31 on the 2000 block of West Congress Street for a short period of time.
While Squad 8 was in service on the north side from mid 1959 until mid 1963, they were assigned an old 1940 Mack squad wagon as their regular rig. I saw it in person on the scene of an apartment building fire on the southwest corner of Ridgeway and Ainslie during the winter of 1962/63. At the time it was a mystery to me to see a second squad on the scene as there was only a driver on it. Squad 11, a 1954 Auto Car was the Still Alarm squad. I believe the fire was only a Still and Box however Squad 4, which normally would have been due on the 2-11, was also assigned a 1954 Auto Car at the time. I found out years later that the one-man squad was really High Pressure 8. I find it interesting that the CFD finally assigned a high pressure wagon to the north side which really never had one unless you count High Pressure 2 which was on the near north side. High Pressure 8 was put in service just a few years before all of the high pressures were taken out of service. They actually put High Pressure 8 on some running cards back then. Incidentally High Pressure 8 was also first assigned to Engine 19’s house on the 3400 block of south Rhodes for a few months after High Pressure 7 was moved out of there.
#3 by Bill Post on December 18, 2017 - 4:43 AM
Michael M, the Chicago squads basically had two and eventually four functions that all began with the letter S. The first supplement. As described by Phil Stenholm, the first three squads were put in service to supplement the engine companies to man additional hose lines on the first arriving engine companies. The squad crews in the beginning were called pipemen. By 1919/20 when Squads 4 through 10 were put in service, the squads were carrying inhalator/resuscitators which were also known for many years as pulmotors. The squads also started carrying acetylene cutting torches and various manually operated heavy duty jacks which were used in accidents such as pin-ins and roll overs. They were the early extrication tools. They also had early of versions of gas masks which included filter type and air masks used during stubborn fires, below grade level rescues, and gas leaks. By then firefighters on the squads were called squad men and this brings us to send S that describes their duties. The 2nd S was for special duty, the term used by the CFD for non fire emergencies such as EMS assignments and physical rescue runs. By the 1920’s the squads were also the equivalent of heavy rescue units and were the primary EMS units sent to what was known as inhalator runs such as difficulty breathing, heart attacks, smoke inhalation, and drownings.
Even though Chicago put their first ambulances in service in 1928, they weren’t for the general public. They were primarily for firefighters and people who were injured in fires. They normally responded to fires as opposed to accidents and inhalator runs. Six ambulance were put in service in 1928 and in 1931 all except Ambulance 1 became one-man units. In 1937 the same five ambulances were taken out of service and only Ambulance 1 remained into the early 1940’s.
The Chicago Fire Department ambulance service as we know it wasn’t started until November 7, 1945 when when four ambulances were reorganized. Prior to that the Chicago Police Departments Police prisoner vans or squadrolls were used for removing the sick and injured as well corpses and prisoners. The police wagons didn’t carry any oxygen or resuscitators. They had one or two foldable stretchers, a first aid kit with smelling salts, and body bags. You were better off calling for a private ambulance. Between 1947 and 1950 seven additional ambulances were put in service. In April of 1950 Ambulance 12 was put in service at Midway Airport.
Even though the CFD began offering public ambulance service in the 1940’s, the 13 squad companies were dispatched on the inhalator calls while the ambulances were dispatched to street accidents and injured people calls. The squads were given the dispatch priority on inhalator calls until April 16, 1955. After that ambulances were given the dispatch priority however the squads were often the 2nd due unit on inhalator calls when the nearest ambulance wasn’t available. In November of 1955 Ambulance 16 was put in service at O’Hare and during 1956 Ambulances 13, 14, and 15 went in service. An interesting thing to note that not many people today realize is that for many years the Chicago Fire Department ambulances did not normally make patient or victim removals from private residences including apartments and houses. The fire department would send an ambulance or a squad company to administer oxygen and the police department would send one a patrol wagon. If the patient needed to go the hospital, either a private ambulance or the CPD would do a sick removal. The patient would be placed on a stretcher (not a gurney on wheels) oxygen or a resuscitator if you needed while enroute to the hospital. It wasn’t until 1972 that the City of Chicago changed the protocols allowing all of the ambulances to make removals from private residences.
In July of 1970 the CFD was given the responsibility of operating eight ambulances from the federal Model Cities program (Ambulances 31 through 38). These were dispatched into several designated Model Cities neighborhood zones. Residents of the Model Cities zones could be transported to the nearest hospital in one of the Model Cities ambulances. The Model Cities ambulances consisted of two white over red Ford Econoline vans and six white Pontiac limo-style ambulances. After two years the city permitted the CFD ambulances to make removals from private residences and the Model Cities ambulances were absorbed into the Chicago Fire Department. At the time the CFD’s regular ambulances consisted of 25 black over red Cadillac ambulances assigned within the city and O’Hare Airport. A 26th ambulance put in service at O’Hare was numbered as Ambulance 16A and using an International Harvester ambulance van. The city didn’t start purchasing modular ALS style ambulances until 1974. The first paramedic in the city didn’t come on line until January 1975 however Ambulance 16 at O’Hare was an ALS ambulance the year before as part of a pilot paramedic program based in the northwest suburbs.
Michael M since you were asking about the equipment carried on the squads in the 50’s and the 60’s, I will deal with the 13 squad companies in service through out the 50’s up until late 1968 and then the three Snorkel squads in service in 1962, 1963, and 1965. In May of 1969 Snorkel Squad 2 and 3 were taken of service and Snorkel Squad 1 survived until October 3, 1980 when they were taken out of service.
During the first half of the 1950’s and before in Chicago there was no such thing as a two engine or two truck still alarm in most of Chicago’s neighborhoods. The Loop could have been an exception but I am not positive about that.
Most still alarms in Chicago would get one engine, one truck, and a battalion chief. Most places would get a squad company assigned as well. A salvage patrol wagon might also be sent. These were not part of the Chicago Fire Department but financed by the insurance companies. They specialized in attempting to save property by laying salvage covers over merchandise. They ran out of their own stations. Most of the 13 squads that had larger districts wouldn’t always run to the far end of their districts on a still alarm. Around 1957 the actual still districts were extended to cover the squads entire first due area. Before that the squads had a special duty district which would cover their entire first due area where they would respond on inhalator and physical rescue runs. Two engine still alarms began around 1957/58 when the squad’s still districts were extended. While the conventional squad companies had sharp looking four door sedan cabs, their open air cut away crew area on the rear of the rig. By the 1950s, the fixed turrets were no longer state of the art and there were some tools that were considered as basic in other cities that they didn’t carry. For example while the squads carried some masks including the Mc Caa mask which was an SCBA type, it was out of date and other cities like New York and Los Angeles where already equipping their firefighters with Scott or MSA air packs worn on the back.
The Mc Caa masks had a square box that worn around the belly and chest. There were oxygen tanks inside that box. The squads also didn’t have power saws or power drills. During the 1950’s if a power saw or drill was required, one of three light wagons was called that would have the power tools and generators.
The squads had acetylene cutting torches. This was a long time before the hurst tool was invented so the squads had various sizes Porta-Power hand operated hydraulic jacks and spreaders. The squads had some blocks and tackles, ropes and belts, and a come-along which was like a portable hand operated winch with a safety lock on it. Chicagos squads of course made alot of use of their inhalators and resuscitators because before April 1955 they were first due on inhalator runs. After that they were second due until 1967 when the battalion chiefs had small resuscitators.
The squad companies of the early to mid 1960’s.
Chicago’s 13 conventional squads were the CFD’s heavy rescue units however they weren’t quite up to date and they didn’t have any mechanical power tools like other big cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Chicago was ahead of the other cities with the Snorkel. By 1960 Chicago had three Snorkel companies in service and there were four more on order for a total of 7 with one assigned to each division. Fire Commissioner Quinn had another idea to take two of the 1956 International Harvester high pressure hose wagons out of service and add rescue squad bodies with a 40-foot Snorkel.The Snorkel/rescue squad would have all of the latest rescue and firefighting appliances and would run with a second unit. An International Harvester/Darley high pressure fog pumper with 300 gallons of water and dual high pressure hose reels fitted with high pressure fog nozzles. These could knock down a fire quickly if caught in the incipient stages. Unlike the conventional squads, the Snorkel squads had the latest power tools which the squads and truck companies didn’t have. The men on the Snorkel squads were all equipped with the latest SCBA air masks by MSA. All of the men reported to fires wearing them. The Snorkel squads were also equipped with the newest Porta-power jacks, a portable life raft and scuba gear. They had acid resistant suits and entry and perimeter fire suits. Snorkel squads carried a foam generator and several types of Rockwood firefighting foam. They also had Ansul dry chemical fire extinguishers. Snorkel squads carried a portable multi-versal deluge gun which engine companies didn’t have at the time. They also had at least one portable smoke clearance fan.
The Snorkel squad crew received additional training to go along with all of the specialized equipment that they were given.
A Snorkel squad was normally dispatched to all pin-in accidents, water rescues, and hazardous materials incidents. They were dispatched automatically to still alarms within their still districts but in addition to the conventional squads. If a Snorkel squad wasn’t due on a Still or a Still and Box Alarm then all of the Snorkel squads would be dispatched on a 2-11 Alarm simultaneously.
Hurst tools weren’t out in the 1960’s but when the they first hit the market, the CFD purchased one around 1971/72. For several years Snorkel Squad 1 was the only fire company in Chicago that was equipped with a Hurst tool.
Unlike the squad companies, the Snorkel squads weren’t dispatched on inhalator runs.
When comparing squad companies to the early Snorkel squads an easy rhyming point to remember is that the squads had the dated equipment while Snorkel squads had he latest equipment.
So why were the squads and two of the three Snorkel squads taken out of service during the 1960’s? The answer is mismanagement by the fire department and the City of Chicago administration. What precipitated reductions in companies and staff was that the City of Chicago gave firefighters more time off in 1967 and 1968 called Daley says. The first reduction was getting an extra day off after every 9th tour of duty and the second was an extra day off after every 5th tour of duty. The catch is that city didn’t want to hire extra firefighters which were necessary to keep the department at it’s full strength with the reduction in firefighter’s total hours in 1967 and 1968. Commissioner Quinn took several of the squads out of service while a few were converted to salvage squads. The city hired a consultant to suggest how to run the fire department without increasing the payroll.
The consultant suggested reducing the manning on the engines and trucks from five to four in many of the neighborhoods. The busiest neighborhoods and the Loop kept five. Flying squads to respond with the four-man companies were added to make up for the loss of the 5th man. The consultant also suggested eliminating several special purpose companies including all three Snorkel squads and to put their equipment on the flying manpower squads and Salvage Squad 1 in the Loop. Commissioner Quinn only took Snorkel Squads 2 and 3 and Salvage Squad 1 out of service. In 1973 Commissioner Quinn had seven new box-style squad trucks delivered for the flying squads which replaced old hand-me-down engines that were being used until then. Hope this answers your question Michael.
#4 by Phil Stenholm on December 17, 2017 - 9:48 AM
When squads were initially introduced in the CFD in 1913 they were called “auxiliary squads,” meaning they were a sub-section of a company (like a squad was a sub-section within a company or a platoon in the U. S. Army). So they weren’t called squad COMPANIES because that would be like saying a battalion division or a company platoon.
The three auxiliary squads were essentially manpower squads equipped with fire extinguishers, pike poles, axes, and an inhalator (CFD ambulances weren’t placed into service until 1928, and even after they were, squads continued to respond to inhalator calls), and they were designed to respond very quickly to both fires and rescue calls. Hence, they were initially assigned Harder trucks (Harder was the top manufacturer of auto-trucks at the time) that probably could have could competed in the Indy 500.
And since this was back in the day when most engine and truck companies were still horse-drawn, a fast automobile fire truck equipped with “first-responder”-type gear that could make long runs at high-speed without running out of steam or getting tired (like horses would) made it seem like the squads were “flying” to the scene. In fact, some fire departments in the U. S. actually called their squads “flying squads” because of their speedy response to alarms, but the CFD didn’t pick up the term (known in the CFD as “Flying Manpower Squad”) until 1969.
In addition to the three auxiliary squads (expanded to ten in 1919), a number of CFD engine companies were assigned automobile hose trucks in the 1910’s (replacing horse-drawn hose-wagons) that ran with horse-drawn steamers. Most of the engine company would “fly” to the scene of an alarm in advance of the steamer aboard the automobile hose wagon, using fire extinguishers to attempt to suppress the fire or lay hose lines once they arrived to be used once the steamer pulled up.
The CFD was completely motorized by 1923, so the speedy response of the automobile hose wagons and auxiliary squads was no longer unique. As a result, most of the automobile hose wagons were taken out of service (a few remained in service to provide hose supply for a handful of tractorized-streamers that were still in service). The White squad rigs that were placed in service in 1919-22 were eventually fitted with turret nozzles that could provide master-stream capabilities at large fires.
By the mid-1920’s all of the tractorized-steamers and their hose wagons were out of service and no longer kept as spares. However, three hose wagons remained in service:
Hose 40 (located at Engine 40’s house at 117 N. Franklin)
Hose 41 (located at Engine 41’s fireboat house at 2404 S. Throop St.),
Hose 58 (located at Engine 58’s fireboat house at 9221 S. Ewing).
Hose 40 followed Engine 37, Hose 41 followed Engine 41, and Hose 58 followed Engine 58 on alarms where a fireboat was assigned, providing a land-based supply of large-diameter fireboat hose to be used when the fireboats were assigned to draft water at fires in proximity to Lake Michigan or to one of the rivers.
In addition, Engine Co. 94 (the second engine company at Engine 5) was reorganized as High-Pressure Co. 1 at Engine 5 in 1922. High-Pressure Co. 1 was created in the aftermath of the massive Burlington warehouse fire, and it was assigned a special rig built by the CFD shops using a Mack truck tractor, a hose-bed from an old hose rig, and a large fireboat deluge nozzle salvaged from the de-commissioned fireboat “Michael Conway” (Engine 92). A load of large-diameter fireboat hose was located in the hose bed, so probably not too surprisingly it was described as a”fireboat on wheels.” High-Pressure Co. 1 was a fully manned company and it responded to all 2-11 fires in the city.
The CFD acquired an automobile Seagrave water-tower in 1923 (replacing an old horse-drawn water-tower) and it was assigned as the second piece of the high-pressure company at Engine 5. Now called Water-Tower Co. 1, the two rigs would respond in tandem to all 2-11 alarm fires, with High-Pressure No. 1 providing the hose supply for Water Tower No. 1 as well as providing master-stream capabilities with its ex-fireboat deluge nozzle.
A second water tower company was placed in service at Engine 14 in 1925, and (like Water Tower Co. 1) Water Tower Co 2 was a two-piece company (running with both a water tower and a high-pressure rig).
A third water tower was placed in service at Engine 104 in 1928, and Hose 40 was relocated to Engine 104 and became High-Pressure 3 (second-section of Water Tower Co. 3).
In 1929 the two remaining fireboat hose wagons (Hose 41 and Hose 58) were relocated to firehouses in proximity to their fireboats, and became High-Pressure No. 4 at Engine 23 (close to Engine 41’s new fireboat house on Throop Street, which did not feature an apparatus bay), and Hose 58 became High-Pressure 6 at Engine 46 (located near where Engine 58 was now berthed in the Calumet River, as Engine Co. 58’s firehouse was closed with the crew now living aboard the fireboat).
In addition, High-Pressure 5 was placed into service at Engine 49, using Squad 9’s old rig (Squad 9 had been reorganized as Truck Co. 40 at Engine 127 the year before). High-Pressure 5 responded to all alarms at the Stockyards, but also responded to 2-11 alarms on the southwest side. (High-Pressute 5 was eventually relocated to Engine 53’s house inside the Stockyards).
And also in 1929 High Pressure Co. 7 was organized as the second “colored” company at Engine 19. Unlike the other six, High Pressure 7 was a fully-manned stand-alone company, and it was assigned a 500-
GPM pumper rather than a high-pressure rig. So it is curious that it was designated a high-pressure company.
The six “legitimate” high-pressures were assigned CFD shop-built rigs up until 1956, when five brand-new custom-built International high-pressure rigs (G115-G119) were placed into service with HP1 (E5), HP2 (E14), HP3 (E104), HP4 (E23), and HP6 (E46). NOTE: High-Pressure 5 was assigned an old 1000-GPM sedan pumper and was confined to the Stockyards as the second section of Engine Co. 53.
While the other six high-pressures remained in service through 1960 in their original firehouses, High Pressure 7 went in & out of service periodically between 1929-1961, eventually ending up at Engine 12 on the west-side in the 1950’s (Engine Co. 12 was the first west-side “colored” company). High-Pressure 7 was usually assigned a so-called “shop spare” (an old squads or a rebuilt high-pressure rig, anything with a turret nozzle).
An 8th high-pressure rig (High Pressure 8) was in service at Engine 56 1958-63, using one of the old high-pressure rigs that had been replaced by one of the new International rigs in 1956.
And finally, there is the “Jeep High Pressure Unit” (671 – 1959 Willys Jeep cab forward – G-164), placed in service at the new Engine 4 firehouse on Division Street in 1960. It was relocated in 1961 to SS1 on Orleans Street (an ex-Fire Insurance Patrol firehouse, known as “Disneyland”:in the 1960’s because there were a number “cute little fire trucks” located there). 6-7-1 was the only high-pressure rig to survive the 1960’s, remaining in service and responding to 2-11 alarms city-wide until 1977.
#5 by Bill Post on December 17, 2017 - 5:30 AM
Michael M. The Chicago Fire Department has a long and varied history when it comes to the squad companies. There were also different types with different functions, responsibilities and equipment at different eras.
It is an interesting and complicated history and it is a long history so before I attempt to answer your specific question about the squads first I will give you an idea as to how many types of squads the CFD ran with and when.
The original squad companies ran from January 15, 1913 when the first three were put in service until October 1, 1968 when the last two of as many as 13 were taken out of service.
Three rescue companies ran from December 16, 1929 until June 1, 1933.
The original Snorkel squads ran from October 1, 1962 when the first of what was to eventually be three Snorkel squads was put in service until October 3, 1980 when Snorkel Squad 1 was taken out of service. This was both the first and the last of the original Snorkel squads.
Chicago ran with what was to eventually be seven salvage squads from February 2, 1967 when Salvage Squads 1 and 2 were put in service until November 1, 1972 when Salvage Squad 4 was taken out of service.
Chicago also ran with a many as seven flying manpower squads from May 1, 1969 when Flying Manpower Squad 4 went in service until October 3, when Flying Manpower Squads 2,3,4,5 and 6 (the last 5 of 7 Flying Manpower Squads) were taken out of service.
The CFD then ran with what I call the district squads which were five, single-piece squads that replaced the last five flying manpower squads and Snorkel Squad 1. These went in service on October 6, 1980. There was one assigned to each of the five new districts that went in service on April 11, 1980. These replaced Chicago’s 7 divisions. Each squad was numbered for the division where it was located. In February of 1982 Squad 6 was put in service at O’Hare however it was a two-piece squad with an Oshkosh/FMC pumper that a a 55-foot Snorkel added in 1979. The 2nd piece was a mini pumper. It was really a two-piece Snorkel squad. On September 2, 1982 a 6th district was added . A 7th single-piece squad company was added as Squad 4. The two-piece Squad at O’Hare was then renumbered as Squad 7. About a year later, Fire Commissioner Louis Galante took 3 of the district squads of out service and the remaining three ran with one of six 75-foot Snorkels on September 19, 1983. They were designated as squad companies instead as Snorkel squads. That is why there is no Squad 3, 4, or 6. The three remaining squads where in Districts 1, 2, and 5. In 1988 Squad 7 received a new heavy rescue rig and stopped running with a Snorkel. Until earlier this year (2017) Squad 7 hadn’t run with a Snorkel since mid 1988.
Michael M I will answer your specific question in the next installment. To be continued.
#6 by Crabbymilton on December 15, 2017 - 9:04 PM
Even though there are many things royally dysfunctional up here, that’s what some rumblings are in regard to MFD but you are right that SEAGRAVE is more favored in smaller to medium departments.
I somehow think that Milwaukee will stick with PIERCE or I wouldn’t be too shocked if they even would go with a lower cost builder like KME.
It’s just speculation but much of this comes from PIERCE’s recent problems with rust so perhaps they are just exploring other options.
Believe me, this whole idea of our sorry excuse for a mayor disgusts me where he takes out his incompetence on public safety.
#7 by Michael M on December 15, 2017 - 1:13 PM
That is interesting that the CFD had 13 squad companies in service! Now they have three in the city and one at O-Hare. Anyone know what kind of equipment the squads carried in the 50’s and 60’s compared to what the squads carry today?
#8 by Bill Post on December 15, 2017 - 12:04 PM
Thanks for sharing those shots of the high pressure wagons Steve.
The Chicago Fire Department purchased five of the those International high pressure wagons in 1956. There were usually seven in service however for short periods of time they had an 8th. High Pressures 1, 2, and 3 were located with Water Towers 1, 2, and 3 while High Pressures 4 through 8 were by themselves. The last high pressure company was taken out of service in November of 1964 and they were merely hose wagons with a fixed deluge gun. One or two of the 1956 units was retrofitted with 2nd turret. They were used for moving high volumes of water. They carried three and a half inch hose that was known as “boat hose”. Sometimes they would connect lines to a fire boat and supply a water tower to hit the upper floors of a fire building.
Two of the five 1956 International Harvester high pressure wagons were taken out of service in 1961 and sent to the Erhlinder body company where new squad bodies with cabinets were added. Then they were fitted with 40-foot Snorkels and put in service as the original Snorkel Squads 1 and 2.
The high pressure wagon that was labeled for Snorkel Squad 3 was never altered and was only used on Snorkel Squad 3 after SS3’s original and only Snorkel was taken out of service during the snow storm of January 1967.
Steve you are correct that it ran with that kind of stuff most of the time as for the four years that Snorkel Squad 3 was in service, it only had a Snorkel for 20 months. They ran without a Snorkel for 28 months. It was literally a Snorkel squad without the boom. During the last six months that SS3 was in service they made it official and changed the designation to Rescue 3 before they were taken of service.
The three remaining 1956 IH high pressure wagons were used as spare squads or reassigned as hand-me-down squads the last years that they were used. One of them was assigned to Salvage Squad 2 when they were at Engine 5’s house and in 1965/66 another was assigned to Squad Company 4 when they were with Engine 83 on Gunnison west of Broadway behind the old Uptown Theater. Squad 4 was one of the last four of the old squad companies that was in service in Chicago. At one time there were 13 squad companies which didn’t included the three Snorkel squads.
#9 by Bill Post on December 15, 2017 - 7:26 AM
Crabby, it would be hard for me to believe that Milwaukee would order a Seagrave apparatus since Seagrave’s are known as being amongst the priciest apparatus on the market, in fact they have nearly priced themselves out of the market and their market share has gone down over the last 20 to 30 years tremendously. Many cities like Chicago , New York and Los Angeles ,just to name a few once had much larger fleets of Seagrave apparatus and now their Seagrave inventory has gotten much much smaller. While Chicago only had a few Seagrave Engines the Chicago Truck company fleet had been at least 75% or more Seagrave while all that’s left are a few Seagrave Truck’s from the mid 1990’s are being used as spare rig with the exception of 522 the Collapse Rescue “Shoring material” unit that had the Aerial Ladder removed and had been rebuilt. Of course there is the one that is used for Truck 81 in the Chicago Fire TV show. Up until the 1990’s Los Angeles Aerial Ladders were almost all Seagraves and since then they haven’t order any Seagrave Aerial Ladders. They do have a few Seagrave pumpers however but the last several bids Seagrave had lost to other companies. New York City which during the 1990s had an almost exclusive Seagrave pumper fleet now only buys special purpose Seagrave pumpers like their pumper Squad but the bulk of their orders have been going to KME and to Ferrara. New York City had been using Seagrave Aerial Ladders even longer and now they only have been ordering their Tillered Aerials and there “Tower Ladders” which are really Aerialscopes and not true Tower Ladders are from Seagrave. New York CIty however has been ordering their new rear mounted Aerial Ladders from Ferrara for several contracts now while Seagrave had been their exclusive supplier for many years.
In the case of Milwaukee as you known Milwaukee has been taking fire companies out of service and is threatening to close some fire houses (so how can a city that is shrinking it’s fire department and s not really in good shape as it’s population growth is very minimal) even consider buying the higher priced Seagrave rigs?
#10 by Bill Post on December 15, 2017 - 6:52 AM
Great shots Steve. That Seagrave engine with the extra large cab I believe was known as a Cincinnati cab. That was actually designed and built by Truck Cab Manufacturers Inc. from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cincinnati cab name caught on and they became known as the Cincinnati Cab company. It was slightly larger than the standard Seagrave cab which was on the other 1969 Seagrave engines Chicago purchased.
Engine 54’s rig was a hand-me-down originally assigned to Engine 42 before they received the American LaFrance 2000-gpm pumper in 1972.
Even though the photo was taken well before there were ALS engine companies or for that matter any ambulance assist companies, the CFD had hand-me-down-rigs in the early 1970’s. These rigs were usually assigned to the downtown companies and then a few years later reassigned to companies in busier neighborhoods. The 1969 Seagrave in the above photo was only at Engine 42 for about three years before going to Engine 54. Robert J Quinn was still the commissioner and he was assigned the newest and prettiest rigs to the downtown companies for a few years. Then the rigs would get reassigned and the downtown companies would get newer rigs to show off.
The Chicago Fire Department had several 1969 Seagrave pumpers in service, however they didn’t all have the same features or for that matter pump capacities. Only Engine 42’s rig had the Cincinnati cab. The above rig was also the only one with a 1,250-gpm pump. One had a 1,500-gpm originally assigned to Engine 5. Several were delivered with a 1,000-gpm pumps.
That interesting looking Seagrave rear mount was part of an order for 10 trucks in 1969 and they were all equipped with booster tanks and reels. A dispute with the Firefighters Union Local 2 who insisted that a truck with a pump required an engineer resulted in the removal of the booster reels.
The trucks with booster tanks weren’t true quints as the low capacity pump was only for the booster real.
#11 by CrabbyMilton on December 15, 2017 - 6:03 AM
I always liked the look of SEAGRAVE’s of any vintage. There is talk the MFD may go with SEAGRAVE next time but we’ll have to wait and see. Imagine how nice a SEAGRAVE would look in CFD colors now.
While Milwaukee never had any apparatus build on that IH chassis, they had many garbage trucks like that and they had a rather long service life and a look you never forget.