Chicago Fire Department Logistics Memo M-36-22

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Tags: Chicago FD Engine 29, Chicago Fire Department Logistics Memo M-36-22

This entry was posted on June 16, 2022, 11:00 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.

13 Comments

#1 by Eugene O on June 23, 2022 - 12:04 PM

Can someone please tell me my truck 62 is using a aerail tower for a spare Thank you guys.
#2 by Chuck on June 22, 2022 - 11:18 PM

It would be interesting to see the City build a new prototype true single engine house somewhere to see if it could work.
#3 by Bill Post on June 22, 2022 - 7:52 PM

Mike Mc , it would be interesting to see where they put Ambulance 60 when they relocate Engine 93 to Engine 121. Years ago Ambulance 5 used to be located with Engine 62 and Truck 27 along with the Old 17th Battalion at 34 East 114th street. Ambulance 5 was relocated to Engine 75 in 1966 however about a year ago when they opened Engine 115s new station I had asked if there was room of Ambulance 5 at Engine 62 on their facebook page as it made more sense to move them back into Engine 62 then to double them up with Ambulance 76 at Engine 115. Apparently they had made some modification to Engine 62s quarters as there isn no longer room for Ambulance 5 there or so I’ve been told. I was told that they had added a TV room to Engine 62s quarters which is why they supposedly don’t have room for Ambulance 5 there anymore. I wonder if they will move Ambulance 60 into 120 with Ambulance 72? It’s funny because when Ambulance 5 was at Engine 62 from 1949 till 1966 Truck 27 was using an 85 foot Wooden Tillered Aerial Ladder with a large rear overhang and Battalion 17 was using a Ford Station Wagon plus Ambulance 5 was in a large Cadillac. Well that was then.
#4 by Mike Mc on June 22, 2022 - 12:20 PM

I heard that Engine 93 will temporarily relocate to Engine 121 for house repairs later this year. No knowledge as to where the ambulance will go. Does anyone know more about this?

As always Bill, very impressed with your knowledge of CFD history.
#5 by Tim on June 18, 2022 - 5:27 AM

Mike Mc…..always Comiskey, Sears Tower, Lake Shore Drive. 🙂
#6 by Bill Post on June 18, 2022 - 4:24 AM

Mike Mc I don’t know for a fact the Engine 29’s house is undergoing repairs how ever since the bulletin said it was temporary it seemed to imply that there was some repairs or most likely building modification that needed to be done or were taking place.

As far as maintaining old single bay fire stations go, the city has as you know has closed down quite a few old single bay stations over the years as many of them had been built in the days of horses and wagons and they weren’t all necessary any more. I don’t believe that all of Chicago’s remaining single bay stations need to be or should be closed however. The point that I was trying to make about Engine 29 house is that there already were quite a few old fire stations that had been closed in that area over the years and that the CFD had apparently decided that Engine 29 would remain. I don’t know what Chicagos plans are for the Old 9th District Police Station are , for all that I know perhaps that city wants to convert the building or tear it down altogether however if the city did that it would make sense either to widen Engine 29s house or to build a small addition to accommodate an ambulance.
As far a Engine 29s still District goes it still covers the Halsted street commercial area and it also does cover the area west of Halsted till about Racine avenue or old Stock yards branch of the Chicago River which is known a Bubbly Creek that area west of Halsted between Pershing road on the south and approximately 31st street on the north is also largely a warehouse and industrial as well as a mixed residential district and there still are many meat packing related businesses in that area which is another reason to have Engine 29 cover that area. The next fire company or station to the direct south of Engine 29 is actually Engine 50 and Truck 18 which is about 2 miles south so Engine 29 still does cover the northern half of Canaryville (the residential /industrial area east of the Old Stock yards.
I do agree that would be money poorly spent build a large 3 bay station for Engine 29. The bottom line for retaining a small one bay fire station to me is “Coverage” or does that fire company provide the 1.5 mile coverage to the area that it serves which is the ISO requirment for adequate Engine company coverage. One and half a miles roughly translates to a 3 to 4 minute drive. There are several other smaller stations in Chicago that still meet that requirment and fill in a few important gaps. The 2 fire stations that I have in mind are Engine 94s house which is stuck in the middle of a residential area but does give necessary coverage to Portage Park/Cragin area. Another small station that I have in mind is Engine company 71 which covers West Ridge and Northtown. Around in 2008/2009 which was one of those rare years that the CFD actually did publish an annual report it did mention the possibility of building an annex for an Ambulance which was never done of course.

When it comes converting some Engine companies to other companies such as Truck companies or Special Operations units I strongly agree with that idea when it can be useful. I have mentioned this before in this blog however I will do it again to reiterate the point.
The CFD under Fire Commissioner Louis Galante in 1986 did a comprehensive study of Chicago fire house and fire company coverage by its Research and Planning Department and it found that there were a number of fire coverage gaps on the far south side which was mainly south of 79th street. That report which was very well done had recommended at the time that 4 new fire stations be built and that several Engine companies from other parts of the city either be relocated or converted into new Truck companies and then be relocated.
Here were the recommendations for the new Stations in order or Priority.
1 Build a new Station at 200 East 130th street for Engine company 75 and convert Engine 63 to a new Truck company which would be relocated into Engine 75’s new Station.
At the same time Truck 16 was recommended to be relocated to Engine 81s house. Engine 100 would have remained in service instead as Engine 63 was still at 62nd place and Dorchester at the time.
2 Build a new station for Engine 97 at 3100 East 130th street and then take Engine 20 out of service and convert them to new Truck company and relocate them into Engine 97s new house.
3.Build a new station at 103rd and State street and relocate Engine 93 there along with a third New Truck company.
4 Build a new fire Station at 732 W 115th street and relocate Engine 104 there along with Truck 24. Engine 104 at the time of this study was at Engine 1s house after their old quarters and 14th and Michigan had been taken our of service.
Engine 115 would have remained in its area and wouldn’t have been relocated to the new house on 115th street.

As when this report was done Engine 104 was still downtown the report had recommended that Engine 103’s current quarters be closed and that Engine 103 be relocated to Truck 61 house at 11659 S Avenue O. As you know Engine 104 was relocated there insread.
So in this “in house study” the CFD did recommend closing Engine 103s house and converting both Engine 20 and Engine 63 into Truck companies. The report found that there were alot of coverage gaps on the far south side.
If you were to look at Engine 63 and Truck 16s current quarters on 1440 E 67 th street , that area is already saturated with plenty of Truck companies as well as Engines. Engine 47 and Truck 30 are just over a mile west of Engine 63 and Truck 16 while there are 3 additional Truck and Engine companies within 2 miles of Engine 63 and Truck 16. Trucks 37, 34 and 49 are all about 2 miles from Truck 16 while Truck 30 is much closer. If you look at the Truck coverage in Engine 81s area you can see why they had recommended that Truck 16 be relocated to Engine 81 house in this study.1
#7 by Mike Mc on June 17, 2022 - 10:42 PM

Bill, you said that the house is undergoing repairs so you know something I don’t. In that case, I would expect them to return to 35th and Lowe, however, if they can move Engine 75 a mile and a half away to a new firehouse, they can do anything. Engine 75 was there for two good reasons: railroad tracks separated it from Engine 62 and the city limits went south until 129th Place. Irregardless, they got moved.

Engine 59 was there for the stockyards. Like Engine 53 before them, they no longer served a purpose at that site.

I doubt if Comiskey Park ( I use that term deliberately) is a factor. Engine 104 was first due at Soldier Field and Engine 24 was first due at the old stadium. I doubt if the White Sox and more importantly their insurance underwriters care. Insurance underwriters are more concerned with how many firefighters and what apparatus are responding on the first alarm then how close a single engine house is.

Seriously though, how much money should the city spend trying to maintain old, single engine firehouses that are almost 100 years old or older, especially if it cannot accommodate an ambulance? Do you really want them all to be replaced by a new, large, three bay new firehouse such as Engine 88? Even if the city had the money for construction, can you expect a single engine to maintain such a large firehouse? Relocation to another firehouse where they can run with two engines or conversion to a truck, squad, or HIT such as they did with Engine 77, has to be considered.
#8 by Bill Post on June 17, 2022 - 10:57 AM

This is just a minor correction for a typo. The International Amphitheater was located just south of Engine 59s old quarters and 59 was just north of there. They were less than a block from the entrance to the Old Union Stockyards.
#9 by Bill Post on June 17, 2022 - 10:29 AM

Mike Mc if you want know about clout in the Old 11th Ward, how about the White Sox and US Cellular field as Engine 29 is the first due Engine to the Ball Park. I do remember that at one time in the there actually had been an extra alarm at the Old Comiskey Park in storage area. As far as fire companies going out of service, I don’t know whether you know this or not but the Original CFD Engine company 2 was also located on Lowe ave until November 16th 1963 along with Squad company 8 at 2421 S Lowe avenue which located off of Archer avenue just below the Elevated portion of the Dan Ryan expressway and only 11 blocks north of Engine 29.

As far as Engine company 16 goes its true that there probably isn’t room for another Engine company however when they were located at their former quarters at 4005 n Dearborn about a block and a half west of their current quarters Engine 16 actually did run with a 2nd Engine for 5 years which was from October 24 1960 until September 16 1965 when Engine 48 was taken out of service and the real irony is that the fire station was actually Engine 48 quarters until Engine 16 had moved in with them on October 24th 1960. Engine 16 was actually located at 23 W 31st street with the Old 10th Battalion when they relocated Engine 16 into Engine 48s quarters on Dearborn and they relocated Battalion 10 into Engine 19s current quarters at 3421 S Calumet.
That’s not to mention Engine company 59’s former quarters located at 818 W Exchange just south of the International Amphitheater until they were relocated to the northside in 1979. They were only about a mile south of Engine 29. There were also several other Engine companies that have since been taken out of service or relocated and they all were within about 2 miles of Engine 29. I still can see them moving back Engine 29 to their quarters on Lowe after the repairs are made as even though Engine 28 has a very large fire station, Engine 28 is also one of the slowest Engine companies in the city. It would still be better to have Engine 29 at their current location. 1 There had been a suggestion years ago in one of the Maatman reports of the late 1960’s , to move Engine 39 to a new house at Damen and 34th street about a half mile west of Engine 39s current quarters which is one of 3 Chicago fire stations that was opened in the late 1800s that are still in service.
#10 by Bob on June 17, 2022 - 7:29 AM

Does CFD publicly release these memos? On a website?
#11 by Wayne on June 16, 2022 - 5:29 PM

There’s no room in 16s house for them unless they move someone out. There’s 4 OFI vehicles, 5-1-1, 2 HazMat auxillary vehicles, Engine 16, and Ambulance 35. for a minimum of 18, sometimes 19 people depending on OFI staffing. I don’t know how life is at 28 with another engine company there but at least for a temporary home it’s probably the best spot for 29.
#12 by John Antkowski on June 16, 2022 - 4:50 PM

I remember stopping at that firehouse, a long time ago. I found it unique and interesting. I have never seen a house built like Engine 29. The Tin work was amazing. I found it cramped and tight. Like old Engine 115, it was a one of a kind. Did the department consider moving them in with Engine 16. Get pictures before they bulldoze the building. I remember reading the story written about Engine 77. And that was interesting in itself.
#13 by Mike Mc on June 16, 2022 - 11:57 AM

Does anyone know what this is about? Usually means problems with the apparatus floor but I would not be totally surprised if it became permanent. The 11th ward does not have the influence that it used to and there aren’t very many, if any, political big shots that live in 29’s still district anymore. I always thought they would end up at 16’s new house sooner or later.