From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

EVANSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT CIRCA 1928:

FIRE STATION # 1 (809 Grove Street) – four-bay firehouse opened in March 1897, occupying the west half of the police/fire headquarters building located at the northwest corner of Grove & Sherman. 

Chief Fire Marshal Albert Hofstetter’s office was at Station # 1

TRUCK Co. 1: 14 men (seven on each platoon, with one of the assigned as the chief’s driver), with 1st Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Ed Johnson (company officer & platoon commander) and Lt. Michael Garrity (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Truck Co. 1.

TRUCK Co. 2. 13 men (six on each platoon, plus one man detailed as fire prevention Inspector), with 2nd Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Tom McEnery (company officer & platoon commander) and Lt. Anthony Steigelman (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Truck Co. 2. Capt. J. E. Mersch was appointed Fire Prevention Inspector in May 1928 and was administratively assigned to Truck Co. 2 1928-32.  

ENGINE Co. 1: Twelve men (six on each platoon), with Capt. George Hargreaves (company officer) and Lt. John Wynn (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 1. As of 1928, Capt. Hargreaves was the longest-serving member of the Evanston Fire Department (34 years and counting…).    

ENGINE Co. 5  Twelve men (six on each platoon), with Capt, Henry Tesnow (company officer) and Lt. Ed Newton (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 5. Engineer J. K. Wilen was a motor driver of Engine Co. 5 in addition to being the EFD’s fire equipment mechanic.

In addition to being company officers, Assistant Chief Ed Johnson (Truck Co. 1) and Assistant Chief Tom McEnery (Truck Co. 2) were also platoon commanders, and they responded to alarms in the chief’s automobile if the chief was off duty. 

Chief Hofstetter and Capt. Mersch normally worked business hours Monday through Friday and a half day on Saturday. 

STATION # 1 APPARATUS:

1. Truck No. 1 – 1924 Seagrave TDA equipped with an 85-ft aerial ladder, about a dozen ground, roof, and pompier ladders, salvage covers, fire extinguishers, and a life net;

2. Truck No. 2 – 1917 Seagrave Model “E” city service truck equipped with about a dozen ground, roof, and pompier ladders (including a 55-ft Bangor  ground ladder that required four men to raise with tormentor poles), a 50-gal chemical tank with a 150-ft lead of red line, a heavy-duty jack, salvage covers, fire extinguishers, and a life net;

3. Engine No. 1 – 1917 Seagrave 750 GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, two ground ladders, and an inhalator; 

4. Engine No. 5 – 1927 Seagrave “Standard” 1000-GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal booster tank and a 150-ft lead of booster line, 1,250 feet of 2-1.2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, and 500 feet of three-inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders;  


5. Chief’s automobile – 1925 Lincoln Model “L” sedan.   

After the police ambulance was demolished in September 1927, Engine Co. 1 was designated as the EFD’s “inhalator squad,” but a second inhalator kept at Station # 1 could be loaded onto any available rig if Engine 1 was not available. (The EFD consistently averaged about 100 inhalator calls per year prior to 1960).   

A portable high-pressure turret nozzle purchased in 1927 was kept at Station # 1 and could be loaded onto any available rig and transported to a fire if needed.
 
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STATION # 2 (750 Chicago Avenue) – three-bay firehouse constructed during 1902 and opened in February 1903, which replaced the previous one-bay Fire Station # 2 that had been located in the old South Evanston village hall on the same site.  

ENGINE Co. 2: Twelve men (six on each platoon), with Capt. Carl Windelborn (company officer) and Lt. Frank Didier (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 2       

STATION # 2 APPARATUS:

1. Engine No. 2 – 1927 Seagrave “Standard” 1000-GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal booster tank and a 150-ft lead of booster line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, 500 feet of three-inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders;  

2. Reserve Engine No. 6 – 1911 Robinson “Jumbo” 750-GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, a reserve hose load, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders. This rig was the EFD’s lone reserve automobile apparatus 1918-29. 

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STATION # 3 (2504 West Railroad Avenue) – two-bay firehouse constructed during 1900 and opened in January 1901 

ENGINE Co. 3: Ten men (five on each platoon), with Capt. Ed McEnery (company officer) and Lt. Dan McKimmons (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 3.    

STATION # 3 APPARATUS:


Engine No. 3 – 1917 Seagrave 300 GPM chemical & hose booster pumper equipped with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders.

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STATION # 4 (1817 Washington Street) – two-bay firehouse constructed in the aftermath of the Boltwood School fire and opened in December 1927 

ENGINE Co. 4: Ten men (five on each platoon), with Capt. Pat Gaynor (company officer) and Lt. Walt Boekenhauer (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 4.  

STATION # 4 APPARATUS:

1. Engine No. 4 – 1906 American-LaFrance “Metropolitan” 700 GPM steam fire engine permanently welded to a 1918 Seagrave Model “K” one-axle tractor;
 
2. Hose No. 4 – 1917 Seagrave 300 GPM chemical & hose booster-pumper with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders.      
      
Both rigs assigned to Engine Co. 4 had previously been assigned to Engine Co. 2. Just as was the case with Engine Co. 2 before Engine Co. 4 was organized, the chemical & hose booster pumper provided the hose supply for the tractorized steamer.  

Engineer Max Kraatz and Assistant Engineer William Richards were assigned to Engine Co. 4 because they were two of only three members of the EFD in 1928 who were qualified to operate, maintain, and repair the steamer. (Engineer Frank Altenberg of Engine Co. 3 was the other one).
 
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Each engine and truck company could run one man short  — and frequently did, due to vacations, sick calls, on-duty injuries, and/or overtime comp payback — so as of May 1928 the maximum aggregate staffing for each platoon each shift was 41 men (if each company was fully-staffed), and the minimum aggregate staffing for each platoon each shift was 34 men (if all seven companies were running one man short).