Posts Tagged EFD Chief Fire Marshal Albert Hofstetter

Evanston Fire Department history Part 37

Sep 15

Posted by Admin in Fire Department History | 2 Comments

From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

THE END OF THE ROARING TWENTIES

On May 20, 1928, EFD Engine No. 1 (the 1917 Seagrave 750-GPM TCP) sustained $4,000 in damage when it struck a large pot-hole on Bridge Street near McCormick Boulevard while returning to quarters from an alarm in North Evanston. Chief Hofstetter accompanied the apparatus as it was conveyed via rail back to the Seagrave factory in Columbus, OH, apparently hoping to influence the Seagrave maintenance shop to put a priority on repairs for a good Seagrave customer like Evanston. Meanwhile, the City of Evanston sued the Sanitary District of Chicago – responsible for the maintenance of Bridge Street –- to recover the cost of the repairs.

With its rig out of commission for an indefinite period of time, Engine Co. 1 was assigned the venerable 1911 Robinson Jumbo pumper, which back in the day had been the EFD’s first automobile fire engine, but by 1928 was on its last leg. The inhalator normally carried aboard Engine 1 was temporarily transferred to Engine 5, since the Jumbo was not particularly reliable and was prone to mechanical breakdowns.

After being out of service for nearly four months, Engine 1 was finally returned to Station # 1 and placed back into service on September 18, and the Robinson pumper was placed back into reserve at Station # 2. Among the repairs made to the damaged pumper while at the Seagrave shops were a new drive-shaft, a new front axle, a suspension upgrade including new springs & shocks, new wheels, and pneumatic tires, matching the factory-installed suspension, wheels, and tires on the three EFD Seagrave rigs built in the 1920’s. New wheels and pneumatic tires replacing hard rubber tires were installed on Truck 2 and Engine 3 in 1929.

In December 1928, the Evanston City Council appropriated $800 to purchase a Ford Model “A” Tudor sedan for the fire prevention inspector. Since being appointed to that position on May 1, 1928, Capt. J. E. Mersch had been transported to his inspection duties by the chief’s buggy-driver (if available), or by taxi cab, or sometimes by use of public transportation. However, it just wasn’t very convenient for a man who walked with a cane to not have his own reliable means of transportation. The Ford sedan also provided a back-up automobile for the chief, no doubt considerably more appropriate than the dog catcher’s wagon that had been employed as a temporary replacement when Chief Hofstetter’s automobile was out of service a few years earlier

On February 5, 1929, the Evanston City Council passed the “Fire Prevention Ordinance,” which officially established the EFD’s Fire Prevention Bureau.The ordinance assigned the following duties and responsibilities to the Fire Prevention Bureau:

1. Prevent fires through education;
2. Regulate storage and use of explosives and flammables;
3. Regulate installation and maintenance of automatic fire alarms and extinguishers;
4. Ensure maintenance and regulation of fire escapes;
5. Ensure means and adequacy of exit in cases of fire involving factories, schools, hotels, rooming houses, asylums and sanitariums, hospitals, churches, assembly halls, theaters, amphitheaters, and any other establishment where persons work and/or congregate;
6. Investigate the cause, origin, and circumstances of fires.

Also in February 1929, two new electrically driven high-lift pumps were installed at the waterworks at Lincoln & Sheridan. One was capable of pumping 10,000 GPM, and the other 7,000 GPM. The two new pumps replaced the old Gaskill 3,500 GPM steam-driven pump that had been in service since 1888.

In August 1929, the Robinson Jumbo pumper failed its annual pump test at Becker’s Pond. Because the Robinson Fire Apparatus Manufacturing Company had gone out of business several years earlier, a replacement pump could not be located, so the Jumbo’s pump was disconnected, its chemical tank & red line, ground ladders, hose load, fire extinguishers, and other miscellaneous firefighting equipment were removed, and the rig was transferred to the street department for use as a utility truck. The street department was still using horse-drawn carts and wagons in 1929, so any type of auto truck – even an old fire engine – was a welcome addition to their fleet.

On Monday, December 2, 1929, Engine Co. 5, Truck Co. 1, Engine Co. 1, and Engine Co. 2 responded to a fire at Thompson’s Restaurant at 618 Davis Street in Evanston’s downtown high-value district. Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol No. 8 responded for salvage work when it was reported as a working fire, and Truck Co. 2 and Engine Co. 3 were dispatched on the second alarm after the blaze communicated to the DeBreuil Tea Room located next-door to the west.

Engine Co. 4 changed quarters to Station # 1 to cover the city, and the off-duty platoon was called-in to provide relief for crews working at the fire, with men walking a block and a half to the scene from Station # 1. The aggregate damage to the two businesses and the structure was $57,274, making it one of the top five highest dollar losses from a fire in Evanston’s history up until that point in time.

In the aftermath of the fire at Thompson’s Restaurant it became clear that the EFD needed a reserve pumper to replace the Robinson Jumbo. So the Evanston City Council appropriated $3,000 to have the Seagrave shops rebuild Engine Co. 4’s hose truck as a 500-GPM Suburbanite TCP, with a 50-gallon booster tank and 150-foot booster line replacing the original factory-installed 300-GPM booster pump, chemical tank, and red line. New axles, wheels, shocks, pneumatic tires, fenders, sealed-beam headlamps, and side-mounted green & red warning lights were also installed. In appearance, the Suburbanite closely resembled the two Seagrave Standard pumpers purchased by Evanston in 1927, except it was a bit shorter and had only a 500-GPM pump instead of the 1000-GPM pumps that were on-board the Standards.

As soon as the Seagrave shops finished the rebuild, the pumper was quickly returned to Evanston and went into service as the new Engine No. 4, as the old Engine No. 4 – the 1906 American-LaFrance Metropolitan 700-GPM steamer that was permanently attached to the 1918 Seagrave Model “K” one-axle tractor — was placed into reserve at Station # 4 as Engine No. 6, with the decommissioned Robinson Jumbo pumper available to be temporarily returned to the EFD from the street department to run as the tractorized-steamer’s hose truck anytime the reserve steamer needed to be placed into front-line service.

Sadly, a number of active members of the Evanston Fire Department died while off-duty during the 1920s:

1. Lt. Harry Schaeffer Sr. (Truck Co. 1), whose son Harry Jr. would later serve with the EFD and retire as an assistant chief, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in June 1923;
2. Fireman and chief’s buggy-driver Orville Wheeler, (whose two sons, James and Chester, would later serve with the EFD, with James retiring as Chief in 1973) died of pneumonia in July 1924, six weeks before he would have been promoted to lieutenant;
3. Fireman Clinton Claypool (Engine Co. 3) died of meningitis in January 1925;
4. Rookie Fireman Fred Michelau (Truck Co. 1 ) drowned while on vacation in Michigan in August 1928,
5. Lt. Walt Boekenhauer (Engine Co. 4) died of a heart attack suffered while on vacation in July 1929.

Tags: 1906 American LaFrance Metropolitan 700-GPM steamer, chicagoareafire.com, Chicagoareafire.com/blog, EFD Chief Fire Marshal Albert Hofstetter, Evanston FD Capt. John E. Mersch, Evanston Fire Department history, History of Evanston Fire Department, Phil Stenholm, Robinson Fire Apparatus Manufacturing Company

Evanston Fire Department history Part 36

Sep 6

Posted by Admin in Fire Department History | 2 Comments

From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

EVANSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT CIRCA 1928:

FIRE STATION # 1 (809 Grove Street) – four-bay firehouse opened in March 1897, occupying the west half of the police/fire headquarters building located at the northwest corner of Grove & Sherman.

Chief Fire Marshal Albert Hofstetter’s office was at Station # 1

TRUCK Co. 1: 14 men (seven on each platoon, with one of the assigned as the chief’s driver), with 1st Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Ed Johnson (company officer & platoon commander) and Lt. Michael Garrity (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Truck Co. 1.

TRUCK Co. 2. 13 men (six on each platoon, plus one man detailed as fire prevention Inspector), with 2nd Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Tom McEnery (company officer & platoon commander) and Lt. Anthony Steigelman (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Truck Co. 2. Capt. J. E. Mersch was appointed Fire Prevention Inspector in May 1928 and was administratively assigned to Truck Co. 2 1928-32.

ENGINE Co. 1: Twelve men (six on each platoon), with Capt. George Hargreaves (company officer) and Lt. John Wynn (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 1. As of 1928, Capt. Hargreaves was the longest-serving member of the Evanston Fire Department (34 years and counting…).

ENGINE Co. 5  Twelve men (six on each platoon), with Capt, Henry Tesnow (company officer) and Lt. Ed Newton (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 5. Engineer J. K. Wilen was a motor driver of Engine Co. 5 in addition to being the EFD’s fire equipment mechanic.

In addition to being company officers, Assistant Chief Ed Johnson (Truck Co. 1) and Assistant Chief Tom McEnery (Truck Co. 2) were also platoon commanders, and they responded to alarms in the chief’s automobile if the chief was off duty.

Chief Hofstetter and Capt. Mersch normally worked business hours Monday through Friday and a half day on Saturday.

STATION # 1 APPARATUS:

1. Truck No. 1 – 1924 Seagrave TDA equipped with an 85-ft aerial ladder, about a dozen ground, roof, and pompier ladders, salvage covers, fire extinguishers, and a life net;

2. Truck No. 2 – 1917 Seagrave Model “E” city service truck equipped with about a dozen ground, roof, and pompier ladders (including a 55-ft Bangor ground ladder that required four men to raise with tormentor poles), a 50-gal chemical tank with a 150-ft lead of red line, a heavy-duty jack, salvage covers, fire extinguishers, and a life net;

3. Engine No. 1 – 1917 Seagrave 750 GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, two ground ladders, and an inhalator;

4. Engine No. 5 – 1927 Seagrave “Standard” 1000-GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal booster tank and a 150-ft lead of booster line, 1,250 feet of 2-1.2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, and 500 feet of three-inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders;

5. Chief’s automobile – 1925 Lincoln Model “L” sedan.

After the police ambulance was demolished in September 1927, Engine Co. 1 was designated as the EFD’s “inhalator squad,” but a second inhalator kept at Station # 1 could be loaded onto any available rig if Engine 1 was not available. (The EFD consistently averaged about 100 inhalator calls per year prior to 1960).

A portable high-pressure turret nozzle purchased in 1927 was kept at Station # 1 and could be loaded onto any available rig and transported to a fire if needed.

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STATION # 2 (750 Chicago Avenue) – three-bay firehouse constructed during 1902 and opened in February 1903, which replaced the previous one-bay Fire Station # 2 that had been located in the old South Evanston village hall on the same site.

ENGINE Co. 2: Twelve men (six on each platoon), with Capt. Carl Windelborn (company officer) and Lt. Frank Didier (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 2

STATION # 2 APPARATUS:

1. Engine No. 2 – 1927 Seagrave “Standard” 1000-GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal booster tank and a 150-ft lead of booster line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, 500 feet of three-inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders;

2. Reserve Engine No. 6 – 1911 Robinson “Jumbo” 750-GPM TCP equipped with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, a reserve hose load, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders. This rig was the EFD’s lone reserve automobile apparatus 1918-29.

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STATION # 3 (2504 West Railroad Avenue) – two-bay firehouse constructed during 1900 and opened in January 1901

ENGINE Co. 3: Ten men (five on each platoon), with Capt. Ed McEnery (company officer) and Lt. Dan McKimmons (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 3.

STATION # 3 APPARATUS:

Engine No. 3 – 1917 Seagrave 300 GPM chemical & hose booster pumper equipped with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders.

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STATION # 4 (1817 Washington Street) – two-bay firehouse constructed in the aftermath of the Boltwood School fire and opened in December 1927

ENGINE Co. 4: Ten men (five on each platoon), with Capt. Pat Gaynor (company officer) and Lt. Walt Boekenhauer (assistant company officer) commanding opposite platoons of Engine Co. 4.

STATION # 4 APPARATUS:

1. Engine No. 4 – 1906 American-LaFrance “Metropolitan” 700 GPM steam fire engine permanently welded to a 1918 Seagrave Model “K” one-axle tractor;

2. Hose No. 4 – 1917 Seagrave 300 GPM chemical & hose booster-pumper with a 50-gal chemical tank and a 150-ft lead of red line, 1,250 feet of 2-1/2 inch line, 100 feet of 1-1/2 inch line, two ten-foot lengths of hard suction hose, nozzles and hose clamps, siamese and wye connections, fire extinguishers, and two ground ladders.

Both rigs assigned to Engine Co. 4 had previously been assigned to Engine Co. 2. Just as was the case with Engine Co. 2 before Engine Co. 4 was organized, the chemical & hose booster pumper provided the hose supply for the tractorized steamer.

Engineer Max Kraatz and Assistant Engineer William Richards were assigned to Engine Co. 4 because they were two of only three members of the EFD in 1928 who were qualified to operate, maintain, and repair the steamer. (Engineer Frank Altenberg of Engine Co. 3 was the other one).

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Each engine and truck company could run one man short — and frequently did, due to vacations, sick calls, on-duty injuries, and/or overtime comp payback — so as of May 1928 the maximum aggregate staffing for each platoon each shift was 41 men (if each company was fully-staffed), and the minimum aggregate staffing for each platoon each shift was 34 men (if all seven companies were running one man short).

Tags: chicagoareafire.com, Chicagoareafire.com/blog, EFD Chief Fire Marshal Albert Hofstetter, Evanston FD 1st Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Ed Johnson, Evanston FD Capt. John E. Mersch, Evanston Fire Department history, History of Evanston Fire Department, Phil Stenholm

Evanston Fire Department history Part 23

May 10

Posted by Admin in Fire Department History | Comments off

From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

Aw, Heck!

On the evening of February 23, 1914, the Evanston Fire Department responded to one of the worst fires in the city‘s history up until that point in time, a spectacular blaze at Heck Hall dormitory on the lakefront campus of Garrett Bible Institute. Most of Evanston’s multi-story hotels and apartment buildings were constructed in the years 1916-23, so at five stories, Heck Hall was the tallest building in Evanston in 1914, and it was one the few structures in the city at that time where the EFD’s 85-ft aerial ladder was actually needed for something other than as an elevated master stream.

Several thousand spectators gathered as the top floor was engulfed in flames, with embers falling as far away as Dempster Street. Firefighters led 92 students to safety, getting the students and themselves out of the building just before the upper floors collapsed, with charged hose-lines left behind under the rubble. The EFD‘s three-year old Robinson automobile pumper — Motor Engine No. 1 — broke down with a damaged transmission while en route to the fire, so with the first-due engine company unable to respond and with the two horse-drawn steamers coming from further away, any chance to control the blaze while it was still possible to do so was probably doomed from the start.

Chief Carl Harrison somewhat belatedly requested help from the Chicago Fire Department, and CFD Engine Co. 79 and Engine Co. 102 responded to the scene to assist Evanston firefighters. Engine Co. 102 was operating with the CFD‘s first gasoline-powered automobile fire engine — a 1912 Webb 650-GPM combination pumper, but even with the assistance of the big-city boys, Heck Hall was completely destroyed, with the loss estimated at $50,000.

To all appearances, the tenure of Evanston Chief Fire Marshal Carl Harrison had been characterized by innovation and modernization, with implementation of a formal training program, a 20% increase in the firefighting force, and the acquisition of a more-powerful steam fire engine, an aerial-ladder truck, an automobile triple-combination pumper, and a “Lung Motor” mechanical resuscitator. But the Harrison regime was also seen by Evanston Mayor James Smart as increasingly erratic and eccentric. After an uncharacteristically poor performance by the Evanston Fire Department in front of thousands of spectators at the Heck Hall fire, Mayor Smart abruptly fired Harrison, just like an owner of a professional football team might fire a coach who just lost a big game.

Mayor Smart tapped 34-year old Albert Hofstetter to replace Harrison, and Hofstteter would serve as chief fire marshal of the EFD for more than 36 years, until his death at the age of 70 in September 1950. Hofstetter had just turned 21 when he joined the Evanston Fire Department in March 1901, and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and was assigned as assistant company officer of Engine Co. 2 at the age of 23 in February 1903. He was promoted to captain on March 14, 1914, and two HOURS(!) later was appointed chief fire marshal by Mayor Smart. So Hofstetter’s two-hour tenure as a captain was followed by 36+ years as chief, spanning World War I, the Roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, WWII, and the onset of the Korean War. His 49 years as a member of the Evanston Fire Department is the all-time record for length of service with the EFD, as is his 36 years as chief, and it’s very unlikely that either of the two records will ever be broken.

Meanwhile, a few days after being dismissed as chief of the EFD, Carl Harrison announced he was running for alderman of the 4th ward against Smart political ally James Turnock. This announcement precipitated a ferocious editorial in the Evanston Press newspaper by publisher Albert Bowman, accusing Harrison of alcoholism. Harrison lost the election, and swore out a complaint against Bowman for criminal libel.

While the public drama unfolded, Carl Harrison’s father — Justice of the Peace and former Evanston F.D. Chief Sam Harrison — was furiously working behind the scenes in an attempt to influence new Mayor Harry Pearsons to reinstate his son as chief of the EFD. However, Pearsons declined Sam’s request, and to make matters worse for the Harrison clan, the criminal libel complaint against Albert Bowman was summarily dismissed by a Cook County grand jury.

Along with Albert Hofstetter’s promotion to captain on March 14th and then his almost immediate elevation to chief, a number of other promotions occurred within the EFD that day that would affect the EFD for decades to come.

Specifically, Lt. Ed Johnson (Engine Co. 3) was promoted to captain and was assigned to Motor Engine Co. 1, and firemen Tom McEnery, J. E. Mersch, and Pat Gaynor were promoted to the rank of lieutenant, with McEnery replacing the deceased Lt. John Watson as assistant company officer of Engine Co. 2, Mersch replacing Hofstetter as assistant company officer of Motor Engine Co. 1, and Gaynor replacing the newly-promoted Ed Johnson as assistant company officer of Engine Co. 3.

The Hofstetter Boys:

Ed Johnson: Joined the Evanston Fire Department in 1902, and he was the “man in the middle” who survived the tragic wall collapse at the Mark Manufacturing Company fire in December 1905 that killed Evanston firemen George Stiles and William Craig. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1909, and after being promoted to captain on March 14, 1914, he was promoted to assistant chief in 1918 when Assistant Chief Thomas Norman retired. Johnson served 30 years with the EFD, before dying of a heart attack while being driven home from work by another fireman on October 22, 1932. Coincidentally, besides being 1st Assistant Chief Fire Marshal under Chief Hofstetter 1918-32, Ed Johnson was also Hofstetter’s brother-in-law.

Tom McEnery: Joined the Evanston Fire Department in 1902, and after being promoted to lieutenant on March 14, 1914, he was promoted to captain in 1918, and then to assistant chief in 1924. He served 46 years with he EFD — second only to Al Hofstetter’s record 49 years — and retired as a platoon commander in 1948. Tom’s brother Ed retired as a captain on the same day as his brother in 1948, after serving 40 years with the EFD.

John E. Mersch: Not to be confused with his cousin John M. Mersch, who served 40 years with the EFD 1906-46, J. E. (as he was known within the EFD) joined the Evanston Fire Department in 1905, and after being promoted to lieutenant on March 14, 1914, he was promoted to captain in 1920 and was assigned to Engine Co. 2 when veteran Capt. Carl Harms retired after 27 years of service with the EFD — all 27 years at Station # 2! Mersch was company officer of Engine Co. 1 in September 1927 when he suffered a disabling leg injury after the police ambulance in which he was riding was struck broadside by a bus at Lake & Sheridan while he and two police officers were responding with the inhalator to Greenwood Street Beach to aid a drowning victim. Unable to continue working as a firefighter and unwilling to petition for a disability pension, Mersch was appointed by Chief Hofstetter to the new position of fire prevention inspector in 1928. Mersch would continue to take civil service promotional exams, and was promoted to the rank of assistant chief in 1932. He ultimately served 45 years with the EFD — the final 22 years single-handedly running the Fire Prevention Bureau — before dying of a heart attack behind the wheel of his staff car at the age of 67 while leading the annual Fire Prevention Week parade up Orrington Avenue in October 1950, just a little over two weeks after the death of Chief Hofstetter. Besides his cousin, several other members of the Mersch family served with the EFD, not including one who was a member of the Village of South Evanston Volunteer F.D. prior to the annexation of South Evanston by Evanston in 1892. Additionally, Peter Mersch was chief of the South Evanston Police Department prior to annexation.

Pat Gaynor: Joined the Evanston Fire Department in 1903, and served 31 years with the EFD before retiring in 1934 to join his family’s monument business near Calvary Cemetery. Pat’s brother John also served as an Evanston firefighter during the same period of time, before retiring into the family business in 1936. After being promoted to lieutenant on March 14, 1914, Gaynor was promoted to captain in 1924, and he became the first-ever company officer of newly-organized Engine Co. 4 at Station # 2 in November 1927. Fire Station # 4 opened at 1817 Washington Street in December 1927 and Engine Co. 4 relocated there from Station # 2 at that time, and so Capt. Gaynor took charge of the new Station # 4. Not satisfied with a conventional meet & greet open house with an offering of coffee and cake for the distinguished guests, Gaynor used his juice as boss of the new firehouse to arrange for a professional boxing match on the apparatus floor on New Year’s Eve to help dedicate the new facility.

Tags: chicagoareafire.com, Chicagoareafire.com/blog, EFD Chief Fire Marshal Albert Hofstetter, Evanston Chief Fire Marshal Carl Harrison, Evanston FD Assistant Chief Thomas Norman, Evanston Fire Department Fire Chief Carl Harrison, Evanston Fire Department history, Evanston Fireman Al Hofstetter, Evanston Fireman J.E. Mersch, Evanston Fireman Tom McEnery, Evanston Mayor Harry Pearsons, Evanston Mayor James Smart, Garrett Bible Institute Heck Hall dormitory fire, history of the Evanston Fire Department, Mark Manufacturing Company fire, Phil Stenholm, South Evanston Police Department, Village of South Evanston Volunteer F.D.