Posts Tagged Evanston FD Fire Chief Lester Breitzman

Evanston Fire Department history Part 69

From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

 

AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN’ 


Chief Lester Breitzman retired in July 1971, after 35 years of service with the Evanston Fire Department. Chief Breitzman was one of only four firemen hired by the City of Evanston between 1932 and 1939, as the country was in the grip of the Great Depression. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1947, to captain in 1952, and to assistant chief in 1957. He commanded the Fire Prevention Bureau for eight years prior to being appointed chief in 1964.

In addition to Chief Breitzman’s retirement, Capt. Leonard Bach (29 years of service), and firemen Ed Lyyjoki (23 years of service), Robert Godeman (20 years of service), and Richard Hennessey (24 years of service) also retired in 1971. Capt. Michael Lass resigned just one year after being promoted to captain, taking a position as IAFF Illinois field rep. A brilliant union leader, Capt.Lass had been president of Local 742 prior to his resignation. 

Twenty five-year veteran Assistant Chief Jim Wheeler served as acting chief when Chief Breitzman retired, and then was appointed chief fire marshal in October. Chief Wheeler’s father Orville was an Evanston firefighter 1914-24, passing away after a short illness in July 1924, just days before he was to have been promoted to lieutenant. Orville was a chief’s buggy-driver prior to his death, and his older son (and Jim’s older brother) Chester was a long-time chief’s buggy-driver / administrative assistant as well, before he retired in 1972. 

Capt. Robert Brandt was promoted to assistant chief and replaced Chief Wheeler as a platoon commander, and firemen Jim Burns and John “Skip” Hrejsa and fire equipment mechanic Ernie Bongratz were promoted to captain in 1971. New firemen hired were Phil Burns, Dave Cleland, William Noland, Bruce Peters, Dave Pettinger, and Ken Semrow in 1971, and Michael Lipnisky in 1972.   

The EFD added three new Dodge station wagons to the fleet in 1970-71, with the two 1970 Dodge wagons assigned to the Fire Prevention Bureau (F-3 & F-4), and the 1971 Dodge wagon assigned to the platoon commander (F-2). The new station wagons replaced a 1963 Plymouth station wagon, a 1964 Plymouth station wagon, and a 1962 Ford station wagon. The new F-3 was an auxiliary ambulance just like the previous F-3, equipped with a stretcher and first-aid gear and garaged at Station # 5 at night and on weekends when not being used by an FPB inspector, available to be staffed by Engine 25 when needed. 

An unusual incident occurred on August 9, 1971, when a seaplane taking off from Lake Michigan near Clark Street Beach crashed and capsized. The U. S. Coast Guard crew stationed at Wilmette Harbor responded to the crash aboard their cutter, and Squad 21 responded aboard the EFD’s DUKW (F-7). A USCG rescue helicopter also responded. Both of the occupants in the plane were rescued.


Major fires occurring during Chief Wheeler’s regime, including one at the J. P. Schermerhorn & Company condominium at 838 Michigan Avenue in September 1971 ($95,000 damage), another that gutted Bramson’s clothing store at 1711 Sherman Avenue in October 1971 ($1.2 million loss), one at the Evanston Scrap Metal & Iron works at 1311 Foster Street in January 1972 ($150,000 loss), one at the Freedman Seating Company warehouse at 2000 Greenleaf Street in February 1973 ($100,000 damage), and an explosion and fire at a laboratory inside the Northwestern University Technological Institute at 2145 Sheridan Road ($87,167 damage) in March 1973.

The condo fire in September 1971 involved a fairly new five-story multi-unit residence that required a high-rise attack, with water supplied by engines pumping into stand-pipes, engine companies donning SCBA and carrying hotel loads into the building and attacking the blaze from the floor below the fire floor, and truck companies ventilating the floors above the fire. It was a complicated operation that required personnel to rotate in and out of the building as SCBA air supply ran out. Bottles were transported back & forth via EFD station wagons and the International pick-up truck from the scene to Station # 1, where the bottles could be refilled. 

The fire at the upscale Bramson’s clothing store in the downtown “high value district” was reported about 45 minutes before the 8 AM shift change, so that the oncoming shift was available to staff the two reserve engines and the reserve truck. This allowed all five engine companies, both truck companies, and Squad 21 to respond to the fire within the first few minutes. The fire was located in the basement, and crews from Engine 21, 22, and 23 spent about half an hour attempting to locate the seat of the blaze, while Truck 21 ventilated, and Truck 22 and Squad 21 performed salvage duties. .

Unfortunately, the fire eventually worked its way up through the walls into the first floor, at which point crews were ordered out of the building and the fight went defensive. The aerial ladders of both Truck 21 and Truck 22 were extended to establish elevated master streams, with water supplied by Engine 24 pumping from Davis & Sherman and Engine 25 pumping from Clark & Sherman. Engine 23 took the hydrant at the northwest corner of Church & Sherman, supplying a monitor set-up on the roof of Lytton’s clothing store to the south,

Engine 21 supplied another monitor set-up in front of the store from the hydrant located on the east side of Sherman Avenue just north of the fire, and Engine 22 was at the hydrant at Church and Orrington, supplying 2-1/2 inch lines to a monitor located in the alley. Engine 21, Engine 22, and Engine 23 also supplied hand lines that were used in the initial interior attack and then again later once the fire was under control. The $1.2 million loss from this fire was the third highest loss from a fire in Evanston’s history up until that point in time.           

The Evanston Scrap Metal and Iron Works fire on Foster Street was more than a junkyard fire. Although the business was involved in the acquisition of scrap metal (including a couple of old Evanston fire trucks), it recycled the metal for use in various types of construction projects. This was a “surround and drown” type of fight that involved using master streams to knock down the main fire, and then hand-lines used in an extensive overhaul that lasted many hours.

The fire at the Freedman Seating Company warehouse on Greenleaf Street was a day-long slog, as truck companies ventilated, Squad 21 salvaged, and three engine companies supplied hand-lines from nearby hydrants. This was just one of many fires to occur over the years in a business located in close proximity to the C&NW RR Mayfair Division freight tracks on the west side of Evanston.

The $87,167 loss from the fire at the Northwestern University Technological Institute stemmed mainly from the initial explosion. Firefighters made an interior attack using stand-pipes and hotel loads, and the fire in the lab was knocked-down fairly quickly by Engine 23 and Engine 21. Five years later, the Unabomber sent a mail bomb to the same facility. An NUDPS officer was injured when he opened the suspicious package. The 1973 fire & explosion at the N. U. Tech building was the second major fire to occur there. In December 1940, Evanston and Chicago firemen battled a major conflagration involving the building’s superstructure while it was still under construction.

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Evanston Fire Department history Part 66

From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

 

THE CHANGING FACE OF DOWNTOWN EVANSTON

In 1962, the Evanston City Council and the Chamber of Commerce came to the unhappy realization that Evanston’s once-thriving downtown business district was dying a slow death. A master plan was developed to transition downtown Evanston from an upscale retail center to a banking, service, and hospitality mecca. The centerpiece of the plan was State Bank Plaza, a 22-story office building to be located on ground formerly home to Lord’s department store, the State National Bank, and Cooley’s Cupboard malt shop. Once erected, State Bank Plaza would be the tallest building between Chicago and Milwaukee.

With a 22-story high-rise under construction in the downtown “high-value district,” the city council appropriated funds in 1966 to purchase a 1250-GPM / 300 gallon triple-combination pumper and a 100-foot tractor-drawn aerial ladder truck. Peter Pirsch & Sons was awarded the contracts for both rigs, with the TCP costing $24,690 and the TDA costing $60,000. The initial plan was for the 1951 Pirsch 85-foot TDA (Truck 21 since 1951) to be moved from Station # 1 to Station # 3 once the new 100-foot TDA was placed into service as the new Truck 21, allowing the EFD to once again run three truck companies, as had been the case 1955-62. Also, new tractors were to be purchased for the 1951 and 1952 Pirsch TDAs.

Placing the third truck into service would have required transferring the fourth man assigned each shift to Truck Co. 21 and Squad 21 and the chief’s driver / administrative assistant to the third truck, leaving all nine companies – five engines, three trucks, and Squad 21 — staffed by three men each shift (plus the platoon commander), with three additional men assigned to each shift who would cover for absences due to vacation, illness, or injury incurred on duty. Like Evanston Police Chief Bert Giddens, EFD Chief Lester Breitzman would get a “take home” car, and a civilian secretary would be hired to be the chief’s new administrative assistant.

The new Pirsch 1250 / 300 TCP arrived in February 1968 and was placed into service at that time as the new Engine 21, with the former Engine 21 (1952 Pirsch 1000 / 80 TCP) becoming a reserve engine (Engine 28) at  Station # 4. The new Engine 21 was baptized under fire the day it was placed into service, at an extra-alarm fire in the service department of the Holiday Lincoln-Mercury automobile dealership at 535 Chicago Avenue. The service department was gutted before the flames were extinguished. The estimated loss from this fire was $160,000.
On April 5, 1968, Engine Co. 24 along with the fourth men from Squad 21 and Truck 21 responded as a five-man crew on an unusual mutual-aid assignment. The west side of Chicago was in flames in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr, Martin Luther King Jr the night before in Memphis, and most of the Chicago Fire Department was engaged in fighting the fires. As a result, a number of suburban fire departments were requested to staff empty CFD firehouses in the outlying battalions,

EFD Engine 24 was assigned to CFD Engine Co. 70 at 1545 W. Rosemont Avenue in the 27th Battalion. Engine 24 was at Engine 70 for about 12 hours, before returning to Evanston. This was the second time an EFD engine company had been sent to a CFD firehouse, the first time being in May 1934 when Engine Co. 1 temporarily moved into Engine Co. 71’s quarters at 6239 N. California Avenue during the Union Stockyards conflagration.

 
Several months later, Engine 24 sustained extensive front-end damage in a traffic collision, and was sent to the Seagrave factory body shop in Clintonville, Wisconsin. After repairs were completed, Engine 24 was driven the 200 miles back to Evanston rather being shipped via flatbed trailer, as probably would have been the case if Seagrave was still based in Ohio. Because the pumper was being driven back to Evanston, Seagrave placed a canvas canopy over the open cab to protect the driver from the weather.

Once Engine 24 arrived in Evanston and was placed back into service at Station # 4, firefighters assigned to  the company found out they really liked the canvas canopy, so it would remain on Engine 24 going forward. Also, as a result of the repairs, the pumper now sported dual front headlights, replacing the single-beam headlights that were originally on the rig. At least as far as cosmetic appearance goes, the EFD’s two 1958 Seagrave pumpers (Engine 23 and Engine 24) were no longer “twins.”

The new Pirsch Senior 100-foot TDA arrived in time for Christmas 1968, but it was not placed into service for several weeks because firefighters needed time to become familiar with the new truck, and the brutal winter weather postponed some of the testing and training that was required before the truck could be formally  accepted by the city. The new Truck 21 was finally placed into service in February 1969.

The former Truck 21 temporarily replaced Truck 22 at Station # 2, because the city council redirected the $20,000 that would have been spent on two new tractors to an extensive “modernization” of Truck 22. The modernization of Truck 22 was a special deal offered by Pirsch, and it involved gutting the inside of the 1952 tractor and replacing just about everything, including the engine, transmission, axles, wheels, drive-train, electrical system, even new fenders with dual front headlights. The trailer also was extensively refurbished, with a new aerial-ladder control box, a new tiller system, and cabinets to provide water-tight storage space for equipment. It also received a new paint job. Pirsch called it “good as new, for half the price.” 

Once the modernization / refurbishment of Truck 22 was completed, the former Truck 21 that had been running temporarily as Truck 22 was transferred to Station # 3 and became the EFD’s reserve truck. As a result, there would be no third truck company. Truck 21 and Squad 21 would continue to run as four-man companies each shift, and one fireman each shift would serve as Chief Breitzman’s driver and administrative assistant.  

Both the 1937 Seagrave 65-foot aerial truck (Truck 23) and the 1937 Seagrave 750 / 80 TCP (Engine 27) were removed from the fleet in 1969. This left the EFD with two reserve pumpers  – the 1949 Seagrave 1000 / 80 TCP (Engine 26) at Station # 5 and the 1952 Pirsch 1000 / 80 TCP (Engine 28) at Station # 4 – and the reserve 1951 Pirsch 85-foot TDA (Truck 23) at Station # 3. As of 1969, all pumpers including the two reserve engines had a minimum 1000-GPM pump, all trucks had a minimum 85-foot aerial ladder, the oldest front-line rig was 17 years old, and no reserve rig was more than twenty years old. 

 

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Evanston Fire Department history Part 65

From Phil Stenholm:

Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department

 

THE GARBAGE TRUCK


Chief Lester Breitzman and the platoon commanders were equipped with Motorola HT-200 portable two-way radios in 1965. Because he now had a hand-held radio he could carry around the fireground, It was decided that the platoon commander no longer needed a driver / radio operator, so the firemen formerly assigned to drive F-2 were transferred to Squad 21, and became the squad’s fourth man each shift. When transmitting via handie-talkie, the chief used the radio call-sign “F-1-X,” and the platoon commander was “F-2-X.” Company officers were also eventually assigned handie-talkies, and were identified as “Engine 23-X,” “Squad 21-X,” “Truck 22-X,” etc, when operating on a portable radio.

Wayne Anderson became Evanston’s new city manager in 1963, and with Squad 21 back in front-line service and responding with four men to all fire calls, Bert Johnson’s Police-Fire Cooperative Plan was quietly phased out in 1965. However, the three police station-wagon patrol-ambulances remained in service and continued to respond to inhalator calls and ambulance runs, and while police officers were no longer expected to work as firefighters (except in extraordinary circumstances), police recruits did receive some training in basic firefighting.

The EFD added three new station wagons to the fleet in the years 1964-66, including a 1964 Plymouth station wagon (the new F-3) that was assigned to a Fire Prevention Bureau inspector during business hours and garaged at Fire Station # 5 at night and on weekends and holidays, a 1965 Dodge station wagon (F-5)  assigned to the Training Officer at Station # 1, and a 1966 Ford station wagon (the new F-1) assigned to Chief Breitzman at Station # 2. All three of the station wagons were equipped with stretchers and first-aid kits and served as auxiliary ambulances, backing-up the three police station wagon patrol ambulances.

F-2 (the platoon commander’s 1963 Plymouth station wagon) no longer served as an auxiliary ambulance after the platoon commander’s driver was transferred to Squad 21 in 1965, but F-1 always had a driver, and (if in quarters) F-3 was staffed by Engine 25 personnel and F-5 was manned by the fourth man from Squad 21 or Truck 21 when needed. In addition, Squad 21 and station wagons F-1 and F-3 were equipped with a wooden back-board known in EFD parlance as a “fracture board,” and so Squad 21, F-1, or F-3 would be dispatched to any incident involving a significant back or neck injury.

Reserve Engine 26 (ex-E2 – 1927 Seagrave Standard 1000 / 50 TCP) – the EFD’s oldest rig – was taken out of service in 1965, and was converted to playground equipment by EFD mechanics. The conversion involved removing the engine, pump, transmission, drive-train, etc, and then welding everything shut, with sheet metal covering the under-carriage. Once the job was completed, the vintage pumper was installed in the middle of brand new Firemen’s Park at the southwest corner of Simpson & Maple. The previous spring, the EFD had used a vacant former church located on the site for ”live burn” practice drills.

In 1964, EFD Chief Breitzman requested that the city purchase a new “more useful” squad rig, and convert the existing 1952 Pirsch squad to a triple-combination pumper by replacing the squad body with a standard pumper body. The Pirsch squad had been in & out of front-line service over the course of its twelve years of service, and so it had relatively low mileage compared to the other 1952 Pirsch pumpers. Also, it had no hose bed, so the 1000 GPM pump had rarely been used and was in virtually pristine condition. Once converted to a TCP, the Pirsch rig would go into service as the new Engine 22.

The new squad would be equipped with an electric winch on the front bumper capable of pulling 18,000 pounds, a reconditioned auxiliary pump, a 300-gallon water tank, new extrication tools, and a top-mounted deluge nozzle salvaged from the recently decommissioned high pressure / hose truck. Modern precision quartz lights would replace the military-style “night sun” searchlights that were on the Pirsch squad. Most importantly, the new squad would have a hose bed with room for two 250-foot leads of 1-1/2 inch hose pre-connected to two rear discharge ports that could be used for a rapid fire attack.

A new factory-built Pirsch pumper-squad purchased by Skokie in 1965 cost $25,000, so City Manager Anderson was looking for a “creative” (cheaper) alternative. The City of Evanston purchased four new garbage trucks in 1965 — International-Harvester R-190 cab & chassis with a Leach Packmaster body — giving Anderson the idea to add an additional cab & chassis to the garbage truck order, purchase a custom-built squad body, a winch, an auxiliary pump, a water tank, and a quartz lighting system separately, and then have EFD mechanics piece it all together in the repair shop at Station # 1.

The city council thought it was a swell plan, and appropriated $13,000 for the project. The International cab & chassis ended up costing $4,474, the auxiliary pump, tank, plumbing, quartz lights, and fabrication and installation of the squad body combined cost $4,974, and the Braden winch cost $725. The pumper body for the 1952 Pirsch squad cost $4,000. EFD mechanics were able to install the winch, pump, tank, and plumbing on the new squad without difficulty, but the squad body was fabricated and installed by the General Body Co.

Located at 5838 N. Pulaski Road in Chicago, General Body was best-known for fabricating the world-famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, but GBC also built many other unusual commercial vehicles, including the Autocar squads used by the Chicago Fire Department, and the salvage trucks used by the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol. GBC had previously built a squad for the Niles Fire Department by combining a commercial (GMC) cab & chassis with one of its own fabricated squad bodies, and the body on the Niles squad was the one Evanston wanted GBC to duplicate (albeit with a few modifications).

Fabrication and installation was completed by GBC within four months, and the new Squad 21 went into service in April 1966. Although it was sometimes called the “garbage truck” (for obvious reasons), and firefighters riding on the tailboard were sometimes called “garbagemen,” Squad 21 was the busiest company in the Evanston Fire Department — the SS-1 of the EFD — responding to inhalator calls, minor fires, and miscellaneous details in Station # 1’s district, as well as to all fires and rescue-extrication calls city-wide. The crew assigned to Squad 21 also manned the DUKW amphibious vehicle (F-7) whenever it was needed.
    
Converted to a 1000 / 100 TCP, the former Squad 21 went back into service as the new Engine 22 in August 1966, replacing the 1949 Seagrave 1000 / 80 TCP, which was then placed into reserve at Station # 5 as Engine 26. The Pirsch pumper’s hose-bed featured two 250-foot leads of 1-1/2 inch hose pre-connected to the two rear discharge ports, as well as 1,500 feet of 2-1/2 inch hose and 300 feet of three-inch hose. A section of soft-sleeve suction hose was pre-connected to an intake port above the rear step. It was the first EFD pumper to not carry lengths of hard suction hose.

Both the new Squad 21 and Engine 22 featured the EFD repair shop’s generic military style graphics of the day (black tape with “EVANSTON” in gold) affixed to the sides of the hoods, the same style of graphics that were applied to EFD station wagons and the DUKW 1964-1971. Squad 21 and Engine 22 also had custom designed gold shields with black lettering affixed on the cab doors, replaced by black shields with gold lettering in 1970. Also, the Mars FL-8 and DX-40 (“football”) warning lights on the older front-line engines and trucks were replaced with the more-visible white / red beacon-type emergency lights at about this same time.

Reserve Engine 28 (ex-E24 – 1937 Seagrave 750 / 80 TCP) at Station # 4 did not pass its annual pump test in 1966, and the other reserve 1937 Seagrave 750 / 80 TCP (Engine 27 at Station # 3) had a blown engine, so once the rebuilt Pirsch TCP went into service at Station # 2 and the 1949 Seagrave pumper was placed into reserve at Station # 5, EFD mechanics transplanted the motor from Engine 28 into Engine 27 to keep it running for a while longer. Engine 28 was then dismantled for spare parts and scrapped. 
 

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