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A Commentary: CFD apparatus history – part 3 of 3
Part 3 of a commentary by Bill Post on the history of the Chicago Fire Department: You can find Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.
Fire Commissioner Quinn, while implementing the six Flying Manpower Squads, decided to keep Snorkel Squad 1 operational. Instead, Snorkel 2 was decommissioned, and just before the Maatman Report recommendations were fully adopted, five additional salvage squads were added. When the Flying Manpower Squads were introduced in 1969, Salvage Squad 1, which the consultant had suggested keeping, was shut down on May 1st, 1969. Coincidentally, this was the same day Flying Manpower Squad 4 began operations, utilizing the 1954 AutoCar Squad that had previously been used by Salvage Squad 1.
Rescue 3, the remnants of Snorkel Squad 3, also ceased operations on that day. Although the 1968 Maatman report was published in November of that year, and all six Flying Manpower Squads were operational by November 1969, Commissioner Bob Quinn hadn’t acted to remove Snorkel 6 from service, nor had he moved Snorkel 4 from Engine 25 to Engine 67. Despite Snorkel 2 being decommissioned in February 1969, the south side still had more than one Snorkel assigned to it.
On March 9, 1970, Truck 31 was relocated from Engine 104's south loop station to a new station on the far southwest side. At the same time, Snorkel 4 was moved from Engine 25 to Engine 104. On July 7, 1970, a brick wall of a multi-story abandoned factory on North Ashland Avenue collapsed on Snorkel 7 while they were dousing the embers from a 5-11 alarm fire the previous day. Snorkel 7 was a complete loss, and Firefighter Jack Walsh later died from injuries sustained in the collapse. Snorkel 7 was never replaced, leaving Snorkel 5 as the sole Snorkel on the north side.
A few months later, in early 1971, the fire department's consultant Gerald Maatman released a follow-up progress report reviewing the department's compliance with the 1968 report. While many of the 1968 recommendations were followed, some items remained unaddressed. Since Commissioner Quinn chose to retain Snorkel Squad 1 and instead removed Snorkel 2 and Salvage Squad 1, the consultant advised relocating Snorkel Squad 1 to Engine 5's station.
Despite the recommendation, Snorkel Squad 1 stayed at 1044 N. Orleans under Commissioner Quinn's tenure. Not only did Quinn keep Snorkel Squad 1 operational, but he maintained its original location. The 1971 Maatman report suggested creating a 7th Flying Manpower Squad at Engine 108's station on the far northwest side. Flying Manpower Squad 5 was meant to cover the northwest side from Engine 7 and Truck 58's station. However, it was stationed instead at Engine 114's former station at Fullerton and Central Park, which was too far southeast to effectively cover the northwest side.
Chicago's Flying Manpower Squads continued to operate with outdated pumpers from the 1950s and late 1940s, lacking the squad-type equipment recommended in the 1968 report. The consultant provided detailed equipment recommendations and specifications for the appropriate apparatus.
Six Salvage Squads remained operational, though the consultant recommended decommissioning Salvage Squads 6 and 7, as they overlapped with the Flying Squads' coverage areas.
Lastly, two truck companies (43 and 46), recommended for decommissioning in previous reports, were still active. Their positions were suggested to be filled by Snorkel companies. Again, it was recommended that these two trucks be taken out of service.
Snorkel 4 was supposed to move to Engine 67 (Truck 46), and Snorkel 7 to Engine 110 (Truck 43) alongside Flying Squad 6. However, Snorkel 4 couldn't be relocated while Trucks 46 and 43 were still in operation. Finally, on November 16, 1971, Trucks 46 and 43 were decommissioned, and Snorkel 6 was relocated from Engine 46 on the southeast side to Engine 110 on the north side. Snorkel 6 was initially recommended for decommissioning, but following the destruction of Snorkel 7 in July 1970, Snorkel 6 was relocated instead.
Snorkel 4 wasn't moved to Engine 67 until June 1972. After this date, not only was Snorkel 3 the only Snorkel left on the south side, but Snorkel 4, which had been in the south loop and second-due on the south side, was now much farther away since it was now on the far west side. It was ironic that there were now two Snorkels on the north side, one on the west side, and only one on the south side. There were no Snorkels downtown, unless you counted Snorkel Squad 1 with their 50-foot Snorkel on the near north side. To be fair, Snorkel 5 was located in a high fire frequency area back then, and Snorkel 6 was just west of a high fire frequency zone.
Since the south side was so far from a second Snorkel company, Snorkel 5 was automatically reassigned to Snorkel 3 on a Still and Box Alarm when Snorkel 3 was due. Snorkel 5 wasn't relocated to Engine 5 (from Engine 57) until about two and a half years later in January 1975. This at least brought them closer to the south side by placing them in the west loop. Two years later, in 1977, Snorkel 5 was relocated again, this time to the west side at Engine 23’s station. It wasn't until April 1981 that the south side regained a second Snorkel. The new Snorkel 4 (using Snorkel Squad 1’s 1975 Hendrickson Pierce 55-foot Snorkel) was put in service at Engine 123’s station.
One month later, Snorkel 3 was renumbered as Snorkel 5 (to match the new fire district it was assigned to) and relocated to Engine 72’s station. In May 1981, each Snorkel was renumbered and relocated to align with the five new fire districts established on April 11, 1981. These new districts replaced the seven old fire divisions. Snorkel 5 became Snorkel 1, Snorkel 4 became Snorkel 2, Snorkel 6 became Snorkel 3, Snorkel 4 was a new company, and Snorkel 3 became Snorkel 5. Snorkel Squad 1 had been decommissioned on October 3, 1980.
So Mike, Commissioner Quinn had effectively preserved Snorkel Squad 1 and kept them operational in 1969, delaying the relocation of some Snorkels. But after Snorkel 7 was destroyed, he had to relocate Snorkel 6 to the north side. Once again, the city avoided hiring more firefighters to properly staff all the fire companies post-1967, instructing Gerald Maatman the consultant to find ways to run the department on the same budget without additional staffing.
Some of his recommendations were beneficial, including adding useful equipment like K-12 saws and ladder pipes to trucks, and multi-versals to engines. He also recommended equipping engines and trucks with air masks, which the CFD was very slow to adopt. This didn't happen until the late 1970s and early 1980s. In terms of basic concepts, the CFD lagged behind other fire departments.
Most new fire stations built in the 1970s were due to Maatman's recommendations. Engine 70 and Truck 47's new station was recommended in 1968. Had the city been willing to hire more firefighters, the report wouldn't have needed to organize four-man company districts and suggest cutting special companies. By the way, did you know that in 1968, the last full year Snorkel Squad 3 and Snorkel Squad 2 were operational, they were the busiest companies in Chicago? Snorkel Squad 3 had 5,952 incidents, and Snorkel Squad 2 had 5,117 runs.
This wasn't bad considering Snorkel Squad 3 hadn't operated with a Snorkel since January 1967, and Snorkel Squad 2 had stopped running with a Snorkel by mid-1968. In those years, all styles of squads that Chicago had been running were automatically dispatched to still alarms with engines and trucks. They didn't wait for a confirmed working fire, leading to many "hold the squad" messages and squad turnbacks.
As the Snorkel Squads were the only rigs with K-12 saws, multi-versals, and back-mounted air masks, you'd have all three Snorkel Squads respond to citywide 2-11 alarms. In 1967 and 1968, they began equipping truck companies with power saws and engines with multi-versals, reducing reliance on Snorkel Squads for basic equipment. Air masks weren't placed on engines and trucks until the latter half of the 1970s.