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Chicago Fire Department history

This from Steve Redick:

Here are some documents that I believe detail the suburban response during the stockyards fire of May 19, 1934

click to download

click to download

Tags: Chicago Fire Department history, Chicago Stockyards Fire, suburban FD response to the Union Stockyards fire in Chicago, Union Stockyards Fire 5-19-34

This entry was posted on May 19, 2020, 7:00 AM and is filed under Fire Department News. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

9 Comments

• #1 by DaveyB on May 22, 2020 - 8:55 AM

  

  Brian, those were the member districts of the Community Firemen’s Association in the 70’s. Basically, District 1 became Division 21, District 2 became Division 22, District 3 became Division 24, and District 4 became Division 27. 4th district was also known as the WILCO Chiefs’ Association. Some of the western towns went to Division 19, and some southern towns may have gone to Division 7.

• #2 by Phil Stenholm on May 20, 2020 - 5:42 PM

  

  Although it wasn’t formally established until almost 15 years later, one of the origins of MABAS can perhaps be found in July 1953, when a number of North Shore fire departments (Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Northbrook, Highland Park, and the Glenview Naval Air Station) participated in a joint training exercise held under the auspices of the Northeastern Illinois Fire Chiefs Association at New Trier High School in Winnetka. This was the first-ever such gathering of many of the departments that would eventually form MABAS Division 3.

  The need for the training was noted after several local fire departments responded into the Village of Wilmette on November 28, 1952, assisting the Wilmette F. D. in battling a large fire at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church at 1122 Oak Ave. There was some confusion reported between the many fire departments who responded, since they had never worked together at a fire.

  Prior to 1960, the Chicago Fire Department routinely provided mutual-aid to suburbs (especially suburbs that bordered Chicago). But then a new policy was established by the City of Chicago where the Chicago Civil Defense Fire & Rescue Corps would respond into suburbs, but not (at least not normally) Chicago F. D, companies. So suburbs on Chicago’s border (like Evanston) could no longer rely on the Chicago Fire Department to provide mutual-aid at large fires. Couple that with the tremendous Post-WWII population growth in many of the (formerly) small towns outside Chicago, and it became necessary for suburban fire departments to rely on each other more than had been the case previously.

  Ergo, MABAS.

  When I was dispatching for the Evanston F. D. in the 1980’s we used to get updated MABAS box cards (which were index cards that were kept in a box) periodically.

  Representatives from MABAS D-3 fire departments would meet about once a year and hash-out the box card assignments and discuss other relevant matters. But fire departments would sometimes make a change on their box card between meetings, and the updates would be sent to MABAS Division 3 HQ (which was the Glenview F. D. at that time) for approval and then new cards would be mailed to each D-3 F. D. The receipt of the new cards had to be acknowledged and the old card(s) had to be mailed back to MABAS HQ to make sure that all D-3 EFDs were using the new card(s).

  RED Center was MABAS Division 3 dispatch in the 1980s.

  The Evanston Fire Department never requested a MABAS Box (for a fire) during the six years I was there (1981-87), but the EFD did sometimes request a Divers Box. Otherwise as far as fires were concerned, EFD chiefs just preferred to call for mutual-aid from Wilmette (always just one engine) and/or Skokie (always a truck and sometimes an engine) and occasionally Winnetka (for their snorkel) directly without involving MABAS (I guess because the chiefs were older guys and that’s the way they’d always done it, and they just felt more comfortable doing it that way).

  There was also an unwritten understanding back then between the union and the chiefs that rather than request a MABAS Box for additional manpower to provide relief at a major fire, that off-duty Evanston firefighters would be called-back (using a “phone tree”) to provide the manpower relief (and to man reserve apparatus), although the down-side of doing it that way was that it could take as much as an hour or two for off-duty firefighters to report to their stations.

  Evanston did respond to MABAS Box fires back then, however. I don’t know the current MABAS rules, but back then engine and truck companies responding to a MABAS box (fire) were required to staff the engine or truck with four firefighters, so when Evanston responded to a MABAS Box they had to staff the engine or truck company with an extra firefighter.

  Back in the 1980’s Evanston was running three-man engine and truck companies (five three-man engine companies — one at each of the five stations, two three-man truck companies — one at Station #1 and one at Station #2, two two-man ambulances — one at Station #1 and one at Station #4, and a shift chief), for a total of 26 firefighters working each shift.

  But there were usually only six qualified paramedics on duty each shift (two assigned to Ambulance 1, two assigned to Ambulance 2, and two assigned to Truck 21), and so the five engine companies and Truck 22 were strictly BLS.

  There was also unmanned Ambulance 3 and unmanned Squad 21 at Station #1, but Ambulance 3 was staffed by Truck 21’s crew only when needed (Truck 21 always had two paramedics assigned to it), and Squad 21 could be staffed by any available firefighter(s) at Station #1 when it was needed at an incident. (Squad 21 normally responded only to provide extrication tools at pin-in crashes, dive gear at water rescues and recoveries, and the air cascade at an incident where air bottles needed to be re-filled).

  So when Evanston was due to respond to a MABAS box fire, the normal procedure was for Truck 21 to be taken out of service (if a fourth firefighter was needed for Engine 21) and then the two “left-over” firefighters (the two paramedics) from Truck 21 would temporarily staff Ambulance 3, or the third firefighter assigned to Engine 22 would jump to Truck 22 (if an Evanston truck was due on the MABAS Box) and then the two “left-over” firefighters from Engine 22 would remain available as BLS “first-responders” to EMS calls (only) in Station #2’s district but otherwise be out of service until Truck 22 returned to quarters with Engine 22’s third firefighter.

• #3 by Tim on May 20, 2020 - 4:48 PM

  

  Like Jim said First District is now Division 21, Second District is Division 22 and 19, Third District is Mabas 24. There is some overlap as some depts. are members of both, like Frankfort (19 and 27).

• #4 by Drew Smith on May 20, 2020 - 3:32 PM

  

  MABAS was formed in 1968. The details are contained here in this article https://www.fireengineering.com/2007/10/01/218035/the-mutual-aid-box-alarm-system/

  There were also other similar systems formed in the south and western suburbs.

  MABAS became the dominate system following efforts of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force post 9-11.

• #5 by Jim Mitidiero on May 20, 2020 - 12:10 PM

  

  I believe they were District 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Community Fireman’s Association in the 70s. Brought up the MABAS concept to a forever anonymous Chief and was told that we don’t need that here. Oh well.

• #6 by Brian on May 20, 2020 - 10:40 AM

  

  Michael,
  I believe it was late 60’s, early 70’s when the initial MABAS (northern suburbs) started. Other areas, District 21 (now mabas 21), District 22 (now mabas 22), District 23 (now mabas 24) and Mabas 27 (not sure what they called themselves in the old system) had a basic set up like MABAS but were not part of the MABAS umbrella until the late 90’s / early 00’s.

• #7 by Chuck on May 20, 2020 - 9:19 AM

  

  I see Downers Grove changed quarters to E-123. I think Bill Friedrich must have been on that run.

• #8 by michael m on May 20, 2020 - 6:47 AM

  

  When did MABAS come into being? Was it in the 1960’s? Great to see that piece of history.

• #9 by Brian on May 19, 2020 - 10:10 AM

  

  MABAS working decades before MABAS was a thought

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