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• #1 by Bill Post on March 4, 2022 - 9:44 PM

  

  Fred M , I am advising you of a typo. I had inadvertently typed that Squads 5,8 and 10 had lost their One man company status in January 1967. It should have read January 1968. All 3 of those Squads began running as One man companies on June 16 th 1967. I was working in Lincolnpark that summer and I used to walk past Squad 10 and Engine 22 house on Webster near Lincoln and the Squad would always be parked in front of the Engine however one day the Engine was parked in front of the Squad and so I stopped and asked about it and thats when I found out that the Squad became a one man company. It’s Inhalator was temporarily transfered to Engine 22. Even though the Chicago Battalion Chiefs had been running with Station Wagons since 1958 and were used an ambulances when the nearest Ambulance was not available, the Battalion Chiefs didn’t start carrying Oxygen and Inhalators until 1967 and 1968 when the Squads were taken out of service.

• #2 by Bill Post on March 4, 2022 - 5:32 PM

  

  Fred M , the Classic Chicago Squad company was the Chicago Fire Departments primary Special Duty apparatus which included what would be called today Special Operations as well as Manpower for Assisting Engines and Trucks on the scene of Still alarms and above on the scene of Fires.

  The first 3 Chicago Squads were put in service in 1913 and the Original Intention of the Squads were to provide additional manpower to take off additional hose lines from the the horse drawn Engine and Hose Wagons.
  The the Squads were motorized from day one and at the beginning the manpower assigned were considered to be “pipemen”. That didn’t last too long however as within a couple of years the Squad companies began carrying special equipment and tools aboard the rigs which included resusitators and oxygen, which were known as inhalators in Chicago. Also included were early forms of gas masks and SCBA. They also were equipped with Oxy/Acetylene cutting torches and various kinds of Jacks which included the Porto Power hydraulic hand operated tools which were the forerunner of the Hurst tool and the Speaders. They also had chains with com
  alongs which was another early version of a winch and a spreader with a jack and a pulley. In 1919 Squad 4 through 10 were put in service.
  The Squads responded on Still alarms along with One Engine One Truck a Battalion Chief and in many instances the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol (Salvage Corp) would respond. The Squads were also the CFDS primary EMS response unit. The Squads would normally be dispatched on heart attacks and breathing Emergencies which included drownings and chemical leaks. The Squads also were Chicago’s early version of the Haz Mat Squad as they very often were dispatched on refrigeration and chemical leaks.
  The Squads in Chicago were initially open body vehicles with large bench like cabinets which were used both as benchs for the crew and as cabinets for equipment.
  In 1926 the Squads were were all retrofitted with large fixed turrets or “deck guns” on their open bodies right behind the cab so in effect they had become High Pressure Wagons. The basic difference between a Squad and a High Pressure Wagon was that the High Pressure Wagons carried the large diameter “boat hose” on rear of the apparatus while the Squads had benches for the Crew and the Special Operations Equipment. As the Squads would be dispatched on fires as well as on Inhalator and on other “Special Duty” runs, the CFD had created 3 Rescue companies which were put in service on December 16th 1929 and they were taken out of service on June 1 1933. They were meant to relieve the Squad companies of ‘Special Duty” work as such inhalator, pin ins , gas leaks and other non fire emergencies. At fires the Rescue companies could be used for crowd control and first aid work but they weren’t to be committed to fire duty, which is what the Squads were supposed to be used for. Rescue 1 was located at Truck 51 at 62nd and Green street on the south side, Engine 24 at Warren near between Western and Campbell on the West Side at first at Engine 33 at Clybourn near Webster and later at Engine 112 at Byron and Hermitage on the north side. The reason why the Rescue companies only lasted 3 and a half years was for financial reasons and Squads resumed being dispatched on Special Duty runs.

  While the first 6 Chicago Fire Department ambulances were put in service in 1928 they were only dispatched on extra alarm fires and were primarily used for sick and injured fire fighters.
  It wasn’t until 1945 that the CFD ambulances were dispatched on what would be called to today an EMS type of run involving Injured and sick Civilians. Even then the CFD ambulances were very limited as they were on dispatched on accidents as the Squads were still given the dispatch priority on Inhalator runs. That wouldn’t chnage until April of 1955 when the CFD started dispatching the Ambulances as the first due units on inhalator runs while the Squads would be second due if the nearest Ambulance was unavailable.
  Even though the CFD ambulance service began serving the Public in 1945 the Primary Public Ambulance service run by the City were the Chicago Police Departments Prisoner Vans which officially were called Squadrols and most people just called them Paddy wagons.

  The Chicago Police Squadrols weren’t equipped with an Inhalator or so much as a bottle of Oxygen like the Chicago Fire Department Squads and Ambulances always carried on them. The primary function of the Police Squadrols was Prisoner removal and removing DOAs (Dead on Arrivals) to the Morgue or the hospital to be pronounced dead.
  The reason that I bring that up is that the City of Chicago had a crazy Policy of not allowing the CFD ambulances remove patients from private residences to the nearest hospital yet the Chicago Police Department were allowed to do sick removals from a private residence. If you needed to be removed you would have to call a Private Ambulance or have a pooly equipped Police Wagon do the job. Only if you were in a public place like a store , a park or a public building would the Fire Departments (Cadillac Ambulances ) be allowed to remove you to the nearest hospital.
  That policy wasn’t changed until in 1972 when the City of Chicago changed the rules and finally allowed the CFD ambulances to remove patients from private residences . That was done because two years before that in 1970 8 Model Cities ambulances were put in service (numbers 31 through 38) and were permitted to do private residence removals in designated Model Cities areas. The Model Cities ambulances were operated from fire stations and the drivers were Chicago Fire Fighters but the attendants were Model Cities EMTs.

  Getting back to Chicago’s Squads , from 1946 through 1949 Squads 11,12 and 13 were put in service. The Squad companies in the outlying areas had both still districts and special duty districts. The Still districts were generally speaking within 3 miles of quarters and beyond that was considered to be the special duty and the box alarm district. The CFD Squads were amongst the first companies to be equipped with radios which allowed them be both held and dispatched while on the street as they had large districts and they were constantly responding to both fire and special duty runs. Due to the radios in the mid 1950s the Squads still alarm districts in the outlying areas were expanded to allow the Squads to be dispatched to the far ends of their district. Around the same time that some of the Squads still districts were expanded the two Engine still alarm response was begun by the late Fire Commissioner Robert J Quinn. Before that the Still Alarm response was just one Engine one Truck one Battalion Chief and a Squad unless it was in one of the outlying areas.

  The Squads would be dispatched automatically on still alarms and they wouldn’t wait for a confirmation of a working fire like today which is why “holding the Squad” became very common on the CFD radio.

  Even though the Squad companies were sharp looking rigs by the 1950s and 60s they were no longer state of art in terms of up to date equipment and they didn’t carry the latest in power saws and other power tools such as drills and generators. Even their Airmasks were out of date and their SCBAs which were known as Mc Caa masks were worn on the firefighters chests as opposed to the more Up to date Scott and MSA masks. So in 1962 and 1963 Fire Commissioner Robert J Quinn Created Snorkel Squads 1 and 2 which featured a lot more up to date and state of the art equipment and tools than the Conventional Squad companies had on them. The New Snorkel Squads all were equipped with Scott or MSA air masks and they were also equipped with power saws and other tools that Squads didn’t carry on them which included both Acid and Abestos suits, Scuba Equipment , Foam Equipment various types of Dry Chemical Extinguishers which included Purple K for volatile fires and Metal X for burning Magnesium,
  Squad 12 was taken out of service in 1964 to create the new Truck 62 while Squad 7 was taken out of service to make room for the New Snorkel Squad 3 at their quarters at 2858 W Fillmore on the West Side.
  Squads 1 and 2 were converted into Salvage Squads 1 and 2 in late 1966 and early 1967. Squads 6 and 13 were both taken out of service on June 16th 1967 while Squads 5,8 and 10 while not totally taken out of service were in effect made into active supply wagons as they had become One man companies with only a driver assigned and while their still alarm assignments were cancelled they would respond on their box or Still and Box Alarm assignments with the driver. Squad company 3 was totalled in an accident in Washington Park on April 17 1967 and was never put back into service. In january of 1967 Squads 5 , 8 and 10 lost their One man company status and were officially taken out of service in February. Squad 11 on the far northwest side was taken out of service on March 7th 1968.
  Squads 4 and 9 were converted to Salvage Squad 3 and 7 respectively on October 1st 1968. Salvage Squads 4 , 5 and 6 also went into service on that day however all of them were out of service by 1973.
  Why were the Squads really taken out of service. The reason is that because in mid 1967 the fire fighters had their working hours reduced when the received a 5th day off known as their Daley day however the City had refused to let the Chicago Fire Department ad positions to their payroll to make up for the reduction in hours and so the CFD took the remaining Squads out of service with the exceptions of Salvage Squads 1 and 2 and Squads 4 and 9. Te manning on the Engines and Trucks were reduced as well so in 1968 they had hired a consultant who had recommended that 3/4s of the Engines and Trucks be normally assigned 4 men while the busier 1/4 of the Engine and Trucks have 5 men assigned which included the downtown fire companies.
  To make up for the being one man short the consultatn had recommended that 6 six man Flying Manpower Squads be created to respond with the 4 man companies. In 1971 a 7th Flying Manpower Squad was created. That is also the reason why Snorkel Squads 2 and 3 were also taken of service in 1969. Snorkel Squad 1 was also supposed to be eliminated however Commissioner Robert J Quinn wouldn’t let that happen and he took Salvage Squad 1 out of service instead.

  So Fred M the Original Chicago Squads were Fire Rescue and EMS units and they continued responding as 2nd due units on Inhalator runs until they were taken out of service in 1967/68.
  As far as assignments go I hope that answers your questions. If you want their station assignments I can give you that also however of the 13 Original Squad companies only Squads 6 10 and 13 remained in service at the same locations where they originally were put in service from.

• #3 by Fred M on March 3, 2022 - 6:28 PM

  

  Bill Post – I remember seeing most pictures of the crew sitting in the back of the Autocars. Were these considered “Flying Squads” for just manpower or specialized Co’s.?? What were there assignments?

• #4 by Bill Post on March 3, 2022 - 5:44 PM

  

  I understand that none of the Old Squads are around anymore. If any of them were I am sure that they would have been found by now.

  It’s true that their Sedan Cabs were ahead of their time. From 1940 through 1954 all of Chicago’s “Classic Squads” were build with 4 door Sedan Cabs.
  The first Sedan cab Squads were 10 1940 Macks and 1949, 2 more Macks and 2 Autocar Squads were delivered. In 1952 3 more Autocars were delivered and in 1954 the final 8 Autocar Squads were delivered. The 1954 models were noticeably larger then the 1949 and the 1952 models. The top 2 photos were most likely photos of one of original 1949 model Autocars. . Even though Chicago had purchased a total of 25 Sedan Cab Squads which were both Macks and Autocars.
  From 1938 to 1948 the Chicago Fire Department had also purchased 16 Sedan cab Engines. Five Macks and one PIrsch were purchased in 1938. Two additional Pirsches were purchased in 1940 and two more in 1946. While 6 Macks were purchased in 1948. After those last 6 Macks were delivered the CFD started purchasing Engines with ordinary cabs.
  Of those last 6 Sedan Cab Macks I actually remember seeing a few of them in the early 1960s which were still assigned to downtown companies. Engine 42 had one before Squad 1 was relocated there in August of 1963.That was their Old house of course at Illinois and Franklin (where the shot of Squad 1 was taken). There was also one assigned Engine 17 on Lake Street and Jefferson and there was also one assigned to Engine 5. I also saw the one assigned to Engine 118 at Midway airport when they were at Central and 59th street.
  There was also one Tillered Truck company that had a Sedan Cab which was a 1942 Pirsch with a 100 foot metal Aerial Ladder which was running at least until 1965/66. The difference back then is that you weren’t required to sit in the Sedan Cabs and most people rode on the out side of the rigs.

• #5 by Mike C on March 3, 2022 - 7:36 AM

  

  What a beautiful piece! Wonder if any of these exist anywhere.

  Pierce failures over the past 5 years:

  – The Dash CF chassis was improperly engineered leading to overheating issues and ultimately, discontinuing this chassis due to poor design.
  – The Ascendant ladders were recalled shortly after their release due to major structural/integrity issues with the ladder.
  – The Command Zone had a recall due to ladders moving without the operator’s command and leading to ladders colliding with buildings or other objects.
  – The TAK-4 front suspension has had multiple recalls, some as serious where wheels fell off while the fire apparatus was in motion.
  – Pierce has had hundreds of pieces of fire apparatus with heavy frame rail corrosion. Pierce indirectly acknowledges they have a problem with biodegradable frame rails by announcing all frame rails going forward will have E-Coat Corrosion Protection.

• #6 by Mike hellmuth on March 2, 2022 - 10:31 AM

  

  Fully enclosed cab ahead of its time……..

• #7 by Bob on March 2, 2022 - 10:01 AM

  

  If I remember correctly it was called a stone jack. I don’t know what lifting capacity it had,but I I believe it could out lift the porta-power which was rated at 10 tons.

• #8 by Bmurphy on March 2, 2022 - 8:43 AM

  

  Given the squad’s still district with the ‘L’ and subway lines, may be a heavy ratchet jack, similar to those used by railroads. Old-timer Squadies- what say you?

• #9 by crabbymilton on March 2, 2022 - 7:39 AM

  

  If I had to guess, a handpump?
  Those rigs are truly iconic. Too bad there doesn’t seem to be enough still around let alone make the muster circuit.

• #10 by Steve Redick on March 2, 2022 - 7:34 AM

  

  I think it is some kinda jack..maybe for streetcars?

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