From Steve Redick:
5-11 and 4 specials at 7400 S Kostner, April 2, 1968
photographer unknown
Archive for category Fire Department History
From Mike Summa for #TBT:
For TBT-Harvey Fire Dept.’s Engine 1, a 1990 Pierce Lance 1250/500/50′ Tele-Squrt.Mike Summa
Mike Summa photo
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
Annual EFD salaries in 1901 ranged from $1,500 (Fire Marshal) to $960 (Engineer) to $780 (Captain and Assistant Engineer) to $720 (Fireman). All company members worked 24 hours on duty followed by a 12-hour furlough. A fireman absent during a scheduled tour of duty was not paid, no matter the reason for the absence (illness, injury received on duty, or furlough). Meal breaks were taken at home or in a nearby restaurant.
At 11:20 AM on a bitter cold Sunday December 15, 1901, and a fire was reported at the Hoyt Flats at 1301 Judson Ave. All residents were evacuated safely, but the Evanston Fire Department was unable to control the blaze, so assistance was requested from the Chicago Fire Department. Three firefighters were injured battling the blaze, as fireman Al Hofstetter of Engine Co. 1 sustained a sprained shoulder after falling from a ladder, fireman John Steward of Hose Co. 2 suffered frostbite to both feet, and fireman Charles Harvey of Chicago F. D. Truck Co. 25 sustained multiple bruises after falling from a frozen ladder. $15,000 damage to the flats was caused before the fire was extinguished, making it one of the top ten highest damage estimates from a fire in Evanston’s history up to that point in time.
August 1902 saw Evanston firefighters Al Hofstetter, John Eckberg, Ed Johnson, and William Pruter and EFD horses “Bob” and “Dan” return triumphantly to Evanston after winning the prestigious “Firemen’s Competition” in Blue Island. The Evanston Military Band met the champs on Main Street, and, after a victory parade up Chicago Avenue, Davis Street area merchants hosted a dinner for the victors at the Avenue House hotel. The firemen won the contest by driving a harnessed team (that would be Bob and Dan) 1/3 of a mile, leading-out 150 feet of hose line from the hose cart, connecting the hose to a hydrant and a nozzle to the lead, and throwing water, all in 18.2 seconds. The firefighters collected a $75 prize, and it was extra oats for Bob and Dan.
The Evanston Firemen’s Benevolent Association (EFBA) was chartered with the State of Illinois on November 5, 1902. For more than ten years — until the Evanston Firemen’s Pension Fund was fully funded in December 1915 — the EFBA was the main source of support for disabled Evanston firemen, and for the families of deceased firefighters. An EFBA benefit show was held each December through 1912, usually a vaudeville show, musical revue, or play.
The first benefit show in 1902 was a screening of the now-classic Edwin S. Porter silent film melodrama The Life of an American Firemen, and the final show in 1912 was a performance of a play called The Still Alarm, featuring several Evanston firemen and two beloved EFD horses named “Sharkey” and “Buttons.” (Besides biting the buttons off the clothing of anyone who might come near, “Buttons” could also turn on a water faucet by himself, a feat he performed in the play).
Beginning in 1903, the City of Evanston purchased life insurance for each member of he fire department that would pay a member $5 per month in case of disability or illness, with a $1,000 survivor benefit in case of death.
From 1900 to 1904, the Evanston Fire Department doubled in size. Manpower was increased from 14 in 1900 to 28 in 1904, and the number of horses increased from eight to 16, as one engine company, two truck companies, and one hose company were in service in three modern fire stations by 1903.
February 15, 1903 (in particular) was a big day for the Evanston Fire Department.
1. The new (rebuilt) $6,000, three-bay Fire Station #2 at 750 Chicago Avenue opened:
2. Manpower at Station #2 was increased from three to six (a captain, a lieutenant, and four firemen), as Hose Co. 2 was reorganized as a truck company (Truck Co. 2);
3. A Seagrave combination truck (a combined hook & ladder and chemical engine) was placed in service at Station #2;
4. The 15-man Engine Co. 1 was split into two companies, as Truck Co. 1 was organized at Fire Station # 1;
5. A captain, a lieutenant, an engineer, an assistant engineer, and five firemen were assigned to Engine Co. 1, and a captain, a lieutenant, and four firemen were assigned to Truck Co. 1, with Engine Co. 1 operating with the Ahrens steamer and a hose wagon, and Truck Co. 1 operating with the Davenport H&L and the Babcock chemical engine;
6. George Hargreaves was promoted to captain, joining Jack Sweeting, Carl Harms, and Carl Harrison as the EFD’s four company officers, and firemen Albert Hofstetter, Thomas Norman, and John Watson were promoted to lieutenant (assistant company officer).
Only Hose Co. 3 at Fire Station #3 continued as a three -man company (as they did until 1912), with just a captain and two firemen operating with a four-wheeled two-axle hose wagon.
All EFD rigs — the steamer, the H&L, the chemical engine, the combination truck, the three hose wagons, and the chief’s buggy — had a two-horse hitch.
From the outset, Truck Co. 1 gained a reputation as the “bad boys” of the Evanston Fire Department. One member of the company was fired by the Civil Service Board in 1904 after being convicted of insubordination, and three more members of the company were fired and another was suspended when they were discovered drinking alcohol on-duty at the firehouse. The man who was suspended but not fired did not deny he was intoxicated, but he claimed he had been drinking at home prior to reporting for work, and that he would never drink while on duty.
From Steve Redick:
Here’s some great CFD history. Response cards for Riverview Park. Looks like an update was issued in later years and applied to the cards with an adhesive label.Thanks Tom Sullivan!
click to download
click to download
click to download
Zion Fire Department history
Feb 14
Found online:
thanks Danny
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
In addition to the fire at the Lincoln Avenue schoolhouse in 1894, the spectacular blaze aboard the steamer Morley on Lake Michigan in 1897, and the conflagration on the Harvey Hurd estate in 1899, the Evanston Fire Department battled a number of other significant fires in the years 1894-99:
On Sunday morning February 25, 1894, at 9:20 AM, choir member Walter Clark discovers and reports a fire at the First Presbyterian Church at 1427 Chicago Ave. The blaze was apparently caused by a defective furnace which had been fired by the church janitor at 4:30 AM. As was the case when the church was destroyed by fire on May 2, 1875, this blaze also extends to the roof. Firefighter Ed Densmore is struck by falling bricks while battling the flames, but does not sustain serious injury. Chief Sam Harrison is trapped briefly in the basement when he gets lost in the thick smoke, but is able to escape before being overcome. Firemen keep the blaze from communicating to houses south of the church, although one does sustain some exterior heat damage. The church is destroyed. The $30,700 loss is the third worst by fire in Evanston’s history up until that point in time.
At 3 AM on Tuesday, April 14,1896, the Evanston Fire Department responds to a report of a fire in the basement of the Bartlett Building at the northwest corner of Davis & Chicago. Crews encounter heavy smoke and burning natural gas upon arrival. Flames extend up through the basement ceiling, and the entire structure is soon enveloped in fire. Firefighters are able to save the Oliver Building to the west and a frame residence to the north, but a millinery shop, a plumbing shop, a barber shop, a jewelry store, and a dress shop, as well as the Bartlett Building itself are heavily damaged. Aggregate loss is $13,500. Capt Jack Sweeting (commander of Engine Co. 1) injures his foot after a fall from a ladder, and rookie Firefighter William Wheldon Ely suffers a disabling eye injury. Just five months earlier, Ely had gained local fame by racking up a perfect score on the first-ever Civil Service test. There is no benevolent association or pension system in place in 1896, so Ely’s injury means his employment as an Evanston firefighter is immediately terminated.
On Tuesday, October 26, 1897, at 6:20 PM, 5th Ward Alderman and gasworks foreman Thomas Ryan rescues a two-month old infant from a burning house at 1720 Emerson Street. Unfortunately, Kate McDermott McDonnell, the mother, perishes in the blaze, the fourth person to die in a fire in Evanston since the advent of organized firefighting in 1873. Then on New Year’s Eve 1899, Ryan dies after being overcome by gas fumes at the gasworks. Alderman Ryan was leading a city council investigation into the Evanston Fire Department — and Sam Harrison in particular — at the time of his death, but foul play was not suspected.
It’s 10:30 AM on Thursday, February 3, 1898, and fire breaks out at 806 Ridge Ave in the St. Nicholas school at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church parish house. Four teachers and 140 children are safely evacuated, but Sister Martha is overcome by smoke before being rescued by firefighters. Poor-quality fire hydrants in South Evanston that were inherited by Evanston after annexation impair the initial fire attack. Fireman George Hargreaves is knocked unconscious and suffers severe cuts to the leg from broken glass when he falls backward through a window. Hargreaves is out of action for more than six weeks as a result of head and leg injuries sustained while battling this fire. The parish house is gutted. $10,475 damage.
Now it’s Friday, January 6, 1899, 1 PM, and the Evanston Fire Department responds to a fire at the Oliver Building at 609 Davis Street, located next-door to the west of where the Bartlett Building was destroyed by fire just two years earlier. Fire starts in the basement and communicates upward to a hardware store located on the 1st floor. Two large stoves and a furnace collapse from the 1st floor into the basement as supports weakened by the flames give way. EFD operates five leads of hose, including two lines from the Ahrens steamer and three from hydrants by use of direct pressure. Although it is very cold, a large crowd of spectators watches firefighting efforts, mostly from inside stores across the street. The hardware store is heavily damaged before the fire is contained. Flames rekindle later in the evening after firefighters have left the scene, and this time the entire building is destroyed, including the hardware store, a real estate office, an architect’s office, and McConnell Hall. Total loss is $13,000.
Thursday, February 9, 1899, 10 PM, and the Evanston Fire Department responds to a fire at the opulent residence of Zalmon G. Sholes at 1402 Chicago Ave. Sholes is the heir to the Remington Typewriter fortune, and he, his wife, his son, his daughter, and two family servants, are rescued by firemen. Fire appears to be under control and firefighters are beginning to overhaul, when a natural gas explosion knocks five firemen off the front porch. Other firefighters escape injury or death when they narrowly miss being struck by two falling chimneys while they are attacking the blaze from the exterior. Firefighters play four streams of water onto the flames and believe they have extinguished the fire ten separate times, only to have the blaze regain strength each time. Meanwhile, a crew from the Northwestern Gas Light & Coke Company works for 2-1/2 hours to dig-out the gas shut-off valve and stop the gas-flow feeding the flames. $7,000 loss.
To read all the installments of this history, click HERE
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
On December 5, 1897, a lamp exploded in the engine room of the steamer Morley, which was 1,000 tons, 193 feet long, with a crew of 12, located on Lake Michigan 1/2-mile offshore of Evanston. The subsequent fire was seen and reported by the resident of 305 Davis Street, and the EFD responded as Chief Sam Harrison called for “City of Evanston No. 1” and all the hose in town.
After the steamer and the hose carts arrived, Harrison, alone, went out to the stricken ship aboard the Northwestern University Life Saving Crew’s surf boat, dragging nearly a 1/2-mile (2,500 feet) of hose behind. Upon arrival, he was told by the crew that the boilers could explode at any moment. Disregarding the warning, Harrison attacked the blaze, and actually extinguished the fire in one of the coal bunkers. As he was about to drown the other bunker, the flames swept past him, and he was forced to abandon ship! The blaze raged for another eight hours, attracting a large crowd on the beaches of Evanston. Chief Harrison and all twelve members of the Morley’s crew escaped without injury.
On August 22, 1899, fire heavily-damaged the residence of Judge Harvey B. Hurd and destroyed several surrounding structures at Davis & Ridge. Judge Hurd, a powerful and influential town resident who had served as the first Evanston Town Board President in 1864, was highly critical of the performance of the Evanston Fire Department at the fire. First of all, the steam fire engine was not dispatched to the initial alarm, and then the Waterworks engineer did not increase pressure in the mains when it was needed.
A subsequent investigation by the Evanston City Council determined that existing policies were followed, but that the policies needed to be changed. Henceforth, the steam fire engine would respond to all alarms of fire, and water-pressure would be increased in the mains whenever a fire was reported to the EFD, even before the fire was confirmed. In 1912, this second policy contributed to the eventual collapse of some of the city’s water mains, and to the abandonment of the use of direct-pressure (plug-pressure), except in extraordinary cases.
Another ancillary result of the investigation into the Hurd fire was a determination by the city council that more manpower and a third fire station were needed, and so in 1900 they appropriated $10,000 for the construction of a fire station in North Evanston to be located within 1/4 mile of the C&NW RR Central Street depot. With construction of Fire Station # 3, a fire station now was located within 1/4 mile of each of the three C&NW RR depots. On January 31, 1901, a horse-drawn hose wagon, two horses, and three full-time, paid firemen were assigned to the new Fire Station # 3 at 2504 West Railroad Avenue, which was later known as Green Bay Road, in North Evanston. A third firefighter was assigned to the hose company at Station # 2 in South Evanston. Also, the chief was provided with a horse-drawn buggy and a buggy driver who also served as the chief’s secretary.
So Evanston’s firefighting force was increased to 19, with twelve firemen now at Station # 1, three at Station # 2, three at Station # 3, plus the chief located either in his office at Station # 1 or at his residence. In 1901, the number of horses in service with the EFD was increased to 14, ten at Station # 1, two at Station # 2, and two at Station # 3. Station #1 apparatus consisted of the Ahrens Metropolitan 2nd size steamer, one two-axle four-wheeled hose wagon, the venerable Babcock chemical engine, the Davenport H&L (the only ladder truck in town), and the chief’s buggy. All five rigs were fitted with a two-horse hitch. The companies at both stations # 2 & # 3 operated with a two-axle, four-wheeled hose wagon, both of which were fitted with a two-horse hitch. The three hose wagons (one at each of the three fire stations) were the backbone of the EFD from 1901-07. Each was equipped with 1,250 feet of first-class 2-1/2 inch hose line, various types of nozzles, fire extinguishers, and hand-tools, with direct-pressure (plug-pressure) still being used on a routine basis.
To read all the installments of this history, click HERE
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
In the aftermath of the Lincoln Avenue schoolhouse fire of March 1894 and at a cost of $4,000, a Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph (initially with 20 fire alarm boxes) was installed in Evanston over a period of three months between November 1894 and February 1895. By 1905, 37 boxes were in service, and by 1935 there were 51 boxes in service. The fire alarm boxes and telegraph system were replaced in 1958 by a network of 80 police/fire emergency telephones manufactured by Western Electric.
Besides providing the public with the means to report a fire, the fire alarm telegraph also had another function. Members of the fire department (normally a company officer or the chief’s buggy driver) could communicate updates and progress reports from the scene of an incident to the chief’s residence, the city’s fire stations, the waterworks pumping station, and/or to the police switchboard. Messages could be sent via telegraph both ways, so that a firefighter monitoring a particular alarm box could be advised of another alarm elsewhere in the city or other important information.
Shortly after the fire alarm telegraph was placed in service, the Evanston City Council appropriated another $4,000 to provide the EFD with its first steam fire engine. Built in Cincinnati by the Ahrens Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of the American Fire Engine Company, and christened “City of Evanston No. 1,” the apparatus was a 2nd size Metropolitan steamer with a two-horse hitch, capable of pumping 600 gallons of water per minute (600-GPM). It was placed into service at Station # 1 in April 1895, just two months after installation of the fire alarm telegraph was completed.
Because no additional horses were acquired to pull the steamer, the two horses assigned to the Babcock chemical engine were transferred to the steamer and the chemical engine was placed in reserve until additional horses could be acquired, which didn’t happen until 1899.
Former Waterworks engineer J. A “Dad” Patrick was hired as the fire department’s engineer in 1895, and he was responsible for operating the steamer. Edward Mersch was hired as the assistant engineer in 1896, and he assisted Patrick and operated the steamer when Patrick was absent. A knowledgeable engineer was worth his weight in gold in the steam era. The position of engineer was the second highest-paid member of the EFD (second only to the chief) in the years prior to World War I. In fact, as late as 1904, the salary of Engine Co. 1’s assistant engineer was as much as the salary of its company officer!
Civil Service was mandated & established for City of Evanston employees in 1895. Only five members of the fire department; Jack Sweeting, George Hargreaves, Carl Harms, Edwin Whitcomb, and J. A. Patrick, qualified under Civil Service. The position of fire marshal was exempt from Civil Service. Jack Sweeting was promoted to captain of Engine Co. 1 at this time. Five new firefighters including Assistant Engineer Ed Mersch were hired in 1895-96 only after passing Civil Service tests. Just like being on active duty in the military, all firemen were on duty at all times, although each man was permitted to take meal breaks away from the firehouse each day, and an occasional furlough at home.
A fire and police headquarters was constructed at the northwest corner of Grove & Sherman in 1897. Financed by a $40,000 bond issue approved by Evanston voters in April 1896, Fire Station # 1 featured four large bays for apparatus, with an adjacent fifth bay used as a garage for the new horse-drawn police ambulance. The facility was abandoned in the summer of 1949, and the structure was razed. The land was used for more than 25 years as a parking lot for the Valencia Theatre, before one of Evanston’s first high-rise office buildings (originally known as One American Plaza) was built on the lot in the 1970’s. Construction of the 18-story structure began in December 1975, and was completed in 1977.
To read all the installments of this history, click HERE
