Lake County Indiana Snorkel History

This from Wayne Stuart for #TBT:

Lake County Indiana fire departments had many Snorkels in service over the years. Gary had two in service but not at the same time, with the ALF coming from South Holland. The Griffith rig came from New Albany, Indiana, The Mattoon ALF also served in St. John and Shelby Indiana. Hammond ran two Snorkel companies at the same time, Snorkel 1, and Snorkel 2. Munster is located in Lake County but is in Mabas Div 24. The Crown Point rig came from Snohomish County, Washington who purchased it as a demo.

wayne stuart collection

Wayne Stuart photo

Wayne Stuart photo

Wayne Stuart photo

Wayne Stuart photo

Wayne Stuart photo

Wayne Stuart photo

Wayne Stuart photo

Tags: #TBT, 1963 Maxim Snorkel, American LaFrance Aero Chief Snorkel, East Chicago FD Maxim Snorkel, East Chicago Fire Department history, Gary Fire Department history, Gary Fire Department Snorkel, Griffith Fire Department American LaFrance Aero Chief 90, Griffith Fire Department history, Hammond Fire Department Snorkel, historic fire truck pictures, Hobart Fire Department Snorkel, Mack CF Snorkel, Mattoon Fire Department history, Maxim Pierce Snorkel, Munster Fire Department history, throw back thursday, throwbackthursday, vintage Snorkel fire trucks, Wayne Stuart

This entry was posted on September 5, 2019, 7:00 AM and is filed under Fire Department History, Historic fire apparatus, throwbackthursday. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

11 Comments (and one trackback)

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#1 by Rob on September 6, 2019 - 3:51 PM

I used to drive the Gary Snorkel. There was 13 feet from the nose of the HOOD to the end of the boom. And that damned red light on the boom used to flash in your eyes as you drove down the road.
#2 by Chuck on September 6, 2019 - 2:38 PM

Every one a classic. Especially that Crown. And chauffeurs complain about driving tower ladders. THESE chauffeurs had to be amazing drivers with those overhangs.
#3 by Al Whitlock on September 6, 2019 - 7:56 AM

The first yellow rigs were the CF Macks.
#4 by DaveyB on September 5, 2019 - 1:50 PM

I stand corrected on the history of Griffith’s, but it is the first chrome yellow rig they had.
#5 by DaveyB on September 5, 2019 - 1:33 PM

I thought Griffith’s was originally theirs, and the rig that inspired their use of yellow.
#6 by Rob on September 5, 2019 - 1:05 PM

The Michigan City Snorkel is sitting outside the Zorn Brewery bldg at 9th & Oak in MC. It might have been on a Maxim at one time, but this one has a Pierce 4-door cab.
#7 by Al Whitlock on September 5, 2019 - 12:24 PM

The St. John unit was sold to Shelby, IN in southern Lake County, The Gary Aero-Chief was originally from South Holland, IL, who sold it to Lake of the Four Seasons, also in Lake County, who then sold it to Gary. The Griffith unit came from New Albany, IN. The Munster unit briefly served in Riverdale, IL, but it is now back in Munster.
#8 by MABAS 21 on September 5, 2019 - 11:56 AM

And speaking of Crown Fire Coach Snorkels, does anyone know of other departments in our area that had one besides Deerfield and Forest Park? Or even a Crown in general?
#9 by MABAS 21 on September 5, 2019 - 11:39 AM

Wayne, thanks for sharing some pretty good stuff! I never knew that Hammond ran 2 snorkels, only the Mack, and I didn’t know Hobart also had one. I’ve seen a picture somewhere of Michigan City’s Maxim Snorkel which was similar to EC, Munster and Hammonds.
#10 by CrabbyMilton on September 5, 2019 - 7:31 AM

That first one has a lot of overhang.
Thanks for the eye candy.
#11 by Mike C on September 5, 2019 - 7:24 AM

Lots of good stuff! Thanks for posting!