A few vintage images of the City Hall fires in Chicago.
Bill Friedich collection
Bill Freidrich collection
from Kevin
Posts Tagged historic gallery
Vintage CFD Fire Photos
Mar 23
A historic gallery has been posted for the Niles Fire Department which includes photos from Bill Friedrich, Steve Redick, and Larry Shaprio plus others from the collection of Carl Fox and Jeff Schielke. Highlights include a history of Pirsch engines, a Pirsch TDA, a Pitman Snorkel, and an undated photo of the original fire station.
Apparatus photos dating back to 1958 representing the Wilmette Fire Department have been assembled into a gallery which is accessible through the ‘Historic Photos’ button on the pages depicting the Wilmette stations. Images to date are from Bill Friedrich, Karl Klotz, and Larry Shapiro plus several from the collection of Jeff Schielke.
In years past the fleet consisted of Seagrave apparatus and then beginning in the 1980s the department started to move the fleet to include units built by E-ONE. Today, as in years past, Wilmette staffs two stations, though the manner in which they run apparatus has changed. The west station, Station 2 runs an engine plus an ambulance and is home to the spare engine. The headquarters station has a battalion chief, an ambulance, and a tower ladder. On any given day if they are at full manning, the squad will be put into service to chase the ambulance. In reserve at this station is another tower ladder which insures that they will always have a tower in service regardless of maintenance or other issues that require taking the frontline piece out of service.
Throughout the 70s and into the mid-80s Wilmette had two trucks on the roster like they do today. They ran a 1962 Seagrave mid-mount ladder truck and a 1975 Seagrave 55′ Snorkel.
Sadly, we don’t as of yet have images of the Cadillac ambulances.
The Central Stickney FPD station at 4951 S. Lotus. Larry Shapiro photo
In MABAS Division 21, the Central Stickney Fire Protection District has now been added to the site. Central Stickney has one station which is staffed by part-time personnel. They have two ambulances, a pair of twin Pierce Enforcer engines, the first Simon-Duplex/LTI 75′ rear-mount tower ladder, and a pickup that is used by their battalion chief. Located near Midway Airport, Central Stickney has a five square mile district which includes a portion of I-55 (the Stevenson Expressway) and a large industrial park.
Engine 905 is one of two 2004 Pierce Enforcer engines. Larry Shapiro photo
Central Stickney was featured in posts HERE and HERE in the last year working at extra alarm fires.
Prior to adopting a red and white paint scheme, the Central Stickney apparatus was all white. They used to run with FMC and Howe apparatus which is featured in the historic gallery that has also been posted depicting Central Stickney apparatus dating back to the 1970s.
Central Stickeny used to run with this 1971 Duplex/Howe 1250/0 85' Grove ladder. Bill Friedrich photo
Currently, Central Stickney operates the first 75' tower ladder made by LTI.
As historical galleries are added to more fire departments that are represented on the site, we are pleased to be adding images that Karl Klotz has begun to scan from his collection. There is quite a bit of work involved to scan, collate, and label the image files that come in, and Karl’s images are a welcome addition. Here are just two of the images that have been submitted for inclusion in future galleries.
Hendrickson/Pierce/TeleSqurt from East Joliet. Karl Klotz collection
Richton Park Engine 27 on a Hendrickson chassis with an 1871-W cab. Karl Klotz collection
The Western Springs Fire Department photo history has been added to their page. Located in MABAS Division 10, Western Springs has a rich history featuring Ward LaFrance, FWD, Seagrave, E-ONE, American LaFrance, and Pierce apparatus. Originally white, their rigs transitioned to white over red beginning with an American LaFrance Ladder Chief Quint in 1977. Three of their units were repainted to accommodate the change. These were the 1977 E-ONE, 1975 Seagrave, and the 1982 Pierce.
In MABAS Division 4, a historic photo gallery has been added for the Newport Township Fire Protection District. The gallery contains 48 images from the collections of Bill Friedrich, Jeff Rudolph, and Larry Shapiro dating back to 1953. Rigs are featured from Pirsch, Ward LaFrance, Pierce, Welch, and Mack including the first ambulance for the district.
from the collection of Jeff Rudolph
from the collection of Bill Friedrich
from the collection of Bill Friedrich
In what is the largest photo gallery to date, a recent history of the Addison Fire District apparatus and stations has been added to the site, which is accessible from the ‘Historic gallery’ button on the pages for each of the current Addison stations. Trucks dating back to the 1950s are illustrated along with staff cars and ambulances. Images for this gallery were submitted by Bill Friedrich and Larry Shapiro.
There was quite a difference between the 1965 Marion for Squad 107 and the 1994 Pierce that replaced it.
Another photographic gallery representing the current and past fleet of a department has been added. The Grayslake Fire Department in Lake County has a historic gallery featuring 28 images from Bill Friedrich and Larry Shapiro.
