This from Danny Nelms:
William Swart Ruting photos
This was the old International Harvestor Works at 26th & Rockwell in Chicago. Fire was in 1974. This is Snorkel Squad 1 operating at the fire. Got a little close and melted the taillights.
Oct 19
Posted by Admin in Fire Department History, Historic fire apparatus, Historic Fire Photo | 1 Comment
This from Danny Nelms:
William Swart Ruting photos
This was the old International Harvestor Works at 26th & Rockwell in Chicago. Fire was in 1974. This is Snorkel Squad 1 operating at the fire. Got a little close and melted the taillights.
Tags: Chicago FD Snorkel Squad 1, Chicago Fire Department history, chicagoareafire.com, historic fire photos from Chicago, Vintage 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago 2-17-74, William Swart Ruting
Oct 8
Posted by Admin in Fire Department History, Historic fire apparatus | 2 Comments
This from Steve Redick:
I shared this official CFD image a while ago. Since that time Jack Connors took the time to identify all the rigs in the image.
Tags: Chicago Fire Department history, classic Chicago FD apparatus, historic fire apparatus, Jack Connors
Sep 10
Posted by Admin in Fire Department History, Historic fire apparatus, throwbackthursday | 8 Comments
This from Danny Nelms for #TBT:
Found a small Stack of the Old Chicago Fire Fighter magazine. Here is an apparatus profile in the autumn 1967 issue profiling all the new “usual” vehicles joining the department.
Tags: #TBT, Chicago Fire Department history, Chicago Fire Fighter Magazine Autumn 1967, new Chicago fire trucks circa 1967, throw back thursday, throwbackthursday
Aug 15
Posted by Admin in Apparatus on-scene, Fire Department History, Fire Scene photos, Historic fire apparatus, Historic Fire Photo | Comments off
This from Steve Redick:
This was a 5-11 and 4 specials at 1400 W 32nd Place on May 25, 1966 in a large, vacant, wood-frame grain elevator. I have not seen very many color photos of this. My favorite shot is what looks like SS3’s Snorkel working. I would assume the fireboat would was Engine 41.These amazing images were taken by Gerald Bean.
Tags: 5-11 Alarm fire + 4 Specials in Chicago 5-25-66, Chicago Fire Department history, Gerald Bean, historic fire photos, historic fire photos from Chicago, massive 5-11 Alarm fire in a Chicago grain elevator in 1966, massive fire in Chicago grain elevator at 1400 W 32nd Place, vintage Chicago fire boat in action
Jul 27
Posted by Admin in Fire Department History | 6 Comments
More from Steve Redick on the Main Fire Alarm Office history:
This image shows the satellite amplifier panel. This was extra and not used much It operated the same way but had telephone style handsets rather than microphones. The yellow switches along the bottom were to allow us to use individual talker circuits. We would use this to send announcements to small groups for water shutdowns and the like. If you look closely you can see another master key to the right. The gray box above was a register to print out what was transmitted on the striking keys.
Tags: Chicago FD Main Fire Alarm Office history, Chicago Fire Department history, chicagoareafire.com, Don Neal, early fire department dispatch center, inside Chicago's Main Fire Alarm Office, Ken Little, Kenneth Little Senior Fire Alarm Operator for the Chicago Fire Department
Jul 26
Posted by Admin in Fire Department History | 1 Comment
More from Steve Redick on the Main Fire Alarm Office history:
Continuing with the Don Neal Photos
These are the keys and sounders for the joker lines. Each represents a circuit containing several firehouses. We could communicate with each grouping individually by a numerical code, NOT Morse code.You can see the listings on the back wall of each circuit and the companies thereon. We had a master key that would transmit to all the joker circuits at once when we sent out the signals indicating groups of companies responding on alarms. When companies arrived in quarters they would send the return signal on the telegraph key on their joker stand and it would sound a click and flash a light on the appropriate sounder circuit. They all had slightly different sounds and you could generally tell the circuit being activated without having to look for the flashing light. We would use the individual circuits to send out water shutdowns and street closures as well as alert a company when their amplifier was unavailable. There were 20 such circuits at main and I don’t recall how many at Englewood but it was a lesser number.
Tags: Chicago FD Main Fire Alarm Office history, Chicago Fire Department history, chicagoareafire.com, Don Neal, early fire department dispatch center, inside Chicago's Main Fire Alarm Office, Keys and sounders for the early Chicago Fire Department Main Fire Alarm Office used to dispatch units
This from Steve Redick:
These are Don Neal photos from June of 1979, exactly 1 year before I went into the fire alarm office. These are some great shots of the equipment I worked with in my early years.
Tags: Chicago FD Main Fire Alarm Office history, Chicago Fire Department history, Don Neal, early fire department dispatch center, Gamewell Striking Box, inside Chicago's Main Fire Alarm Office
Jul 24
Posted by Admin in Collectors of fire memorabilia | Comments off
From Fire Replicas:
Classic Chicago Fire scale models are in stock!
Tags: Chicago 1928 Seagrave Water Tower #1 replica model, Chicago FD 1952 Autocar Squad 7 replica model, Chicago FD 1985 E-ONE tower ladder replica model of Tower Ladder 23, Chicago FD 1985 E-ONE tower ladder replica models, Chicago FD 1996 Seagrave Ladder 26 replica model, Chicago FD 1996 Seagrave Ladder 33 replica model, Chicago FD 1996 Seagrave Ladder 7 replica model, Chicago FD die-cast model by Fire Replicas, Chicago FD die-cast model of 1948 Mack L sedan cab pumper, Chicago FD replica models, Chicago Fire Department history, chicagoareafire.com, Die-Cast replica of Chicago FD Mack Sedan cab pumpers, Fire Replicas, Fire Replicas fire truck model, New Chicago Fire Department replica models
This from Danny Nelms:
Full page pre strike ad from the Rich Rehner collection
Tags: Chicago Fire Department history, full page ad prior to the 1980 Chicago Firefighter Strike
This from Steve Redick:
This is from the Department General Order Dated May 31, 1965. It shows the organization of Snorkel Squad 3 and the controversial disbandment of Squad 7, Squad 1, and the relocation of Engine 66. Some great stuff here. Thanks to Jack Connors for sharing this.
Tags: Chicago FD General Order 428 5-16-65, Chicago Fire Department history, formation of Snorkel squad 3 in Chicago 1965, vintage Chicago FD order creating Snorkel Squad 3
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