New squad for the Chicago Fire Department « Page 1

New squad for the Chicago Fire Department

Found in process at E-ONE

146220_Chicago_2025_E-ONE_FireService_Rescue

#chicagoareafire.com; #EONE; #FireTruck; #beingbuilt; #cab; #ChicagoFD

EONE photo

thanks Martin

Tags: Chicago Fire Department, chicagoareafire.com, E-ONE fire truck being built, fire truck being built for Chicago, new squad for the Chicago FD

This entry was posted on February 3, 2025, 3:30 PM and is filed under Fire Department News, Fire truck being built. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

30 Comments

#1 by Dennis on February 7, 2025 - 7:31 PM

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ok, Chicagolandfirephotos there’s only 4 firefighters and an officer 24/7/365 at 39th St./Special Ops building. They all do the supply runs and such, there are no 40-hour employees there.

There are 2 squad boxes being built by E-One currently, not to be confused for the 2 hazmat rigs being built, so it’s ASSUMED that the 2 squad boxes are going to the squads and not to replace anything else. In true Chicago fashion believe it once it’s parked in the firehouse and even then, give it a day or two, things change.
#2 by Big Moe on February 7, 2025 - 4:52 PM

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I know I have said this before but if CFD spec’d a Sutphen SP70 with no tank or pump, it would make a great squad rig. Small foot print, maneuverable, short retracted length, nice big bucket with nozzles, can fit in vacant lots and alleys and carry alot of gear that wont fit on the box. Food for thought.
#3 by Cognoscente on February 7, 2025 - 2:52 PM

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5-2-5 has barely ever had a run. It is a total waste of resources; leftover from the post 9-11 special ops boondoggle. It could absolutely be repurposed to supplement the squad fleet, but no one in that chain of command knows how to do anything but waste money.
#4 by Chicagoland Fire Photos on February 6, 2025 - 12:58 PM

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Just answering a few questions
Steve – No, currently the Order from E-One is just to replace the front boxes, no one makes a snorkel except rosenbauer makes snorkels and they quoted the city $2 million each for new ones. So currently the city is trying to find an alternate. Also, 5-2-5 is the technical rescue team rig, it runs out of the SO warehouse and carries a lot of specialized TRT equipment.
Bill – I believe the problems with the current squads comes from the incompetence of the shops combined with the various reliability issues that Rosenbauer’s are plagued with.
#5 by Bill Post on February 6, 2025 - 2:14 AM

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What is going on with the Rosenbauers? Is it structural problems with the actual rigs? Is it chassis problems or mechanical problems?.
I noticed that according to the list posted here that all but Squad 7s Snorkels are out of service. Are the problems actually with the rigs or are they actually having problems with the Snorkels themselves?
This is ashame. I remember that it was long wait to get the current 2 Piece Squads delivered and they were delayed several times.
I know that for a while now the Squads will respond automatically if the still is a few miles from quarters however beyond that they only go if it is working fire or there is smoke showing.
Even so due to size of the Squad Districts the Squads still get held before they get on the scene. I was wondering what the current percentage of times the Squads are held before arriving on the scene.

I remember that until the early 2000w some of the Squads still districts were about half the size of what they current are. An example is that Squad 2 would only go as far north as Foster and beyond that they would have to strike a Still and Box for them to go and for Squad 5 they would normally only go as far south as 87th street on a working fire.
Squad 2 also had it’s district changed at least 10 or 15 years ago. Squad 2 used to go the Lakefront as far as the Northern City Limits however they now only go as far east as Ashland to the Northern City Limits while Squad 1 responds east of Ashland to the Lakefront to the Northern City Limits.
I am sure the is because that the 911 Center figured out the if Squad 1 takes Lake Shore Drive they can beat Squad 2 to the Northeast side of the city.
They might have changed Squad 1 and Squad 2’s District on the west side as well but I am not completely sure of that.
I wonder if the Squads vehicle problems have to do more with maintenance or with actual structural problems? At least who ever is responsible for ordering new rigs isn’t waiting any longer to find out.
#6 by MABAS 21 on February 5, 2025 - 4:40 PM

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So after just going through the E-One “In Production” site, there are three “rescues” being built at this time.

The first two are 3-door cab, 2024 models being SO #145820 & 145821. These two are the HAZMAT units.

The 3rd one is so far a 4-door cab, 2025 model being SO #146220. This is obviously one of the new squads.
#7 by Steve K on February 5, 2025 - 3:36 PM

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So will these e-one rigs be getting another rig with a snorkel on them? What even is the purpose of 5-2-5 and does anyone know how many runs it gets?
#8 by The DH on February 5, 2025 - 10:29 AM

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Memphis still has the two snorkels and the rescue box in service. I was told there was talk of them replacing the snorkels with rescue boxes and purchasing a few tower ladders to replace them.
#9 by Chicagoland Fire Photos on February 5, 2025 - 8:21 AM

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Yes Bill,
There will always bee manpower on duty at Special Ops and at SLD they both have 24 hour duty crews. During the week the manpower goes up as they make deliveries of equipment from both warehouses and on nights and weekends it drops to 3-5 to make emergency supply runs to firehouses and transport specialty apparatus to scenes
#10 by Colton Latham on February 5, 2025 - 8:04 AM

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Bill P, yes about the staffing, I believe minimum is 3 per shift with more FFs on weekends. If a nearby fire company were to pickup the units, it would be kind of inconvenient because units like 6-3-9 (mobile battery unit) get enough runs and or are considered essential enough like 5-2-5 to demand independent staffing.
#11 by Bill Post on February 5, 2025 - 3:09 AM

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Speaking of Memphis that last that I had heard is that they were running with 3 single piece Snorkel Squads. The latest being a 2018 Smeal at Rescue 2, a 2007 Pierce at Rescue 3 and supposedly a 1996 E/One at Rescue 1.
I really don’t know how accurate that information is because it is hard to believe that they would still be running a 1996 E/One as Snorkel Squad.
As some of you may know there terminology is somewhat confusing as their Snorkel Squads are called Rescues and their Squads are enclosed pick up Trucks with a Crew cab that act as EMS first responders in some of the busier districts.
I am not sure if their Squads are still jump companies or if they have their own dedicated crews now.
Just like Chicago they no longer are using large Snorkels or for that matter I understand that they are no longer using any Tower Ladders.
The last large Platform that they had used was a 2005 Model E/One100 foot Bronto Skylift.
All of their Trucks have been using pre piped Waterways fo a while.
That’s a far cry from Chicago where the Ladder Pipes appear to have been retired with the exception of Aerial Tower 8 and the 105 foot Pierce that was assigned to the former Aerial Tower 1.
#12 by Bill Post on February 5, 2025 - 1:36 AM

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Colton thanks for the information about the manpower at the Special Operations warehouse on Pershing road. I wasn’t sure if they had kept any manpower there overnight or if they need to special call a company from a nearby station if they needed to call for any of the rigs.
So are the 3 to 5 men Stationed at the Special Operations warehouse on for a full 24 hour tour of duty?
#13 by Colton Latham on February 4, 2025 - 9:19 PM

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Steve, 5-2-5 cannot be used for anything else despite how few calls it gets. The other smaller units being used by squads are just transport or utilities for specialized tools, but this is a full tech rescue unit and thus an essential asset. As for staffing, it is housed at the special operations warehouse where 3-5 FFs per shift staff the building and thus any/all of the units inside including 5-2-5.
#14 by Matt on February 4, 2025 - 8:23 PM

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2 new air bottle trucks are in production by Custom Truck and Body in Georgia

Frankfort rig was sold as a used rig to a fire department in Canada
#15 by Harry on February 4, 2025 - 7:14 PM

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Memphis has a snorkel truck on a pierce and eone I believe
#16 by Ryan Smith on February 4, 2025 - 5:05 PM

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Andy, that is not accurate. The Memphis snorkel was a custom build and is Rescue 2. I don’t know the disposition of the Frankfort snorkel but I can tell you there is not one piece of the Frankfort rig in Memphis.
#17 by Andy on February 4, 2025 - 3:40 PM

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Rosenbauer manufactures their own version of the Snorkel, referred to by them as the ACP (Articulated Cobra Platform) the LT/Snorkel brand and such was bought from ALF by Smeal. Smeal built a few of them under the LTC name, and was eventually bought by Spartan and then Spartan bought by REV Group. I don’t know that a true Snorkel has been made outside of the couple that were originally built as demos. One of those being the famed Frankfort one which went back to them and then eventually resold to Memphis FD.
#18 by Steve K on February 4, 2025 - 2:36 PM

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Also, why don’t they just run 5-2-5 as a squad for now? How many runs does it actually get per year? Or is it even staffed?
#19 by Steve K on February 4, 2025 - 2:27 PM

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Are they going to refurb their current squads? Also is anyone aside from Rosenbaur allowed to make snorkel units?
#20 by Michael m on February 4, 2025 - 1:10 PM

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These are definitely NOT the Haz mat rigs. The Haz Mat rig is 145820. This is a 146 number. Glad that there are two new boxes on order. My guess is one will go to Squad 1 the other will go to Squad 5 since they are the units in most need of new boxes. That is a shame that Squad 5 is not in its assigned rig. Does anyone know what is wrong with the Rosenbauers?
#21 by Michael m on February 4, 2025 - 10:21 AM

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Glad to see they are not waiting 16-17 years to replace the squads. Replacing them after 9, wow!
#22 by DMc77 on February 4, 2025 - 9:28 AM

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I believe these are Haz Mat rigs, not replacements for the squads.
#23 by Chicagoland Fire Photos on February 4, 2025 - 8:20 AM

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The city currently has 2 of these on order, they are replacements for 2 of the front boxes. The Rosenbauer’s have been nothing but unreliable and a massive headache for the squads and all spares are being used, who knows what will happen if anything else goes down as there are no spares for special rigs right now.
Squad 1 – G-510/Spare Engine
Squad 2 – Assigned Box/Special Ops Van
Squad 5 – 6-8-7a (Dedicated dive spare)/Special Ops Utility
Squad 7 – Assigned Box/Assigned Snorkel
Hazmat 5-1-1 – Assigned Apparatus
Hazmat 5-1-2 – Using Shared Spare with Sqd 7
Dive 6-8-7 – Assigned Apparatus
CV 2-7-1 – Using Spare CV (There’s only one Command Van spare left)
CV 2-7-2 -> 2-7-5 – Assigned Rig
Air Mask – Down to one spare
In Terms of spares G-510 is the only one left, Both HME sets are no longer operational and the other older hazmat spare has been sold. So if any specialty rig were to go down there would be no rigs for them to use.
#24 by Mike C on February 4, 2025 - 7:11 AM

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Are the Rosenbauers really going to get replaced???

Did you know the City of Chicago runs a nearly $19 billion budget? If the city allocated a tenth of a percent equaling $19 million per year for new engines or ladder trucks, they could get 10-14 rigs per year. At this rate, this would put average lifespan of apparatus frontline at 15 – 17 years. NFPA recommended lifespan for frontline apparatus is 15 years. This would be significantly better than CFD using rigs twice the recommended lifespan. It is truly unbelievable how the city mismanages their funds! $19 million per year is literally a small spec of the actual city budget. Technically, the city should budget more like $25 million per year. Can you imagine the amount of money dumped into maintaining their apparatus??? It has to be insane! I’m sure they are putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into many rigs. I wouldn’t even be surprised if fleet put so much money into many of the rigs over the course of a rigs life that the rig could have been completely replaced at the same amount of money or less.
#25 by Rich on February 4, 2025 - 4:22 AM

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What happened to the squads? The Rosenbauers? I know they get alot of run time. Are the frames cracked, body’s cracked, engine problems, or wiring????
#26 by Bill on February 3, 2025 - 10:57 PM

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Isn’t that the 2nd hazmat truck
#27 by Mitch on February 3, 2025 - 10:47 PM

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Aren’t these being built to replace 511 and 512 not the squads?
#28 by Jeff Marino on February 3, 2025 - 10:40 PM

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Is this going to go to an actual squad company or is this another piece of specialty equipment? Does anyone have a copy of the current E-one contract?
#29 by Martin on February 3, 2025 - 9:44 PM

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There is supposed to be another going into production
#30 by Michael m on February 3, 2025 - 8:21 PM

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Glad to see they are getting a new squad. They just need two more. From what I hear, the Rosenbauers have had major issues. 1A as of last check was still in a reserve engine. Squad 1 was still in G 510. Hopefully the E-One will be better!