Evanston Fire Department history Part 24

From Phil Stenholm: Another chapter in the history of the Evanston Fire Department: The Tale of the Lucille McQuade On January 12, 1915, a fire broke out at the Nally livery stable, located next to the Greenwood Inn (previously known as the “French House”) at Greenwood & Hinman. At the time, the Greenwood Inn was one of Evanston's two hotels, the other being the famous Avenue House at Davis & Chicago. The fire originated on the second floor of the stable while guests were dining in the hotel. Bessie Gallagher ignored police warnings and rushed into the burning building to retrieve her belongings, only to be rescued by the Evanston firefighters. Despite her heroic effort, she was arrested by the local police and charged with disorderly conduct and disobeying an officer. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and thanks to the quick actions of the firefighters, the hotel was saved from destruction, though the livery stable suffered $3,000 in damages. Just two weeks later, on January 28, the EFD responded to another fire, this time at Mrs. I. C. Danwood’s boarding house at 1925 Sherman Ave. Boarder C. C. Firman fractured both his ankles when he jumped from a second-floor window to escape the flames before the firefighters arrived. Upon their arrival, the EFD found fire shooting through the roof. Although they successfully rescued all the boarders without any civilian or firefighter injuries, firefighting efforts were severely hindered when a fire hydrant stem snapped while attempting to connect a suction hose. After switching to a different hydrant further away, the firefighters managed to control the situation but not before the house and its contents were completely lost, amounting to a total loss of $7,000. Nevertheless, the EFD was able to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding structures using defensive positions and high-pressure streams from their equipment. On April 20, 1915, residents of Wilmette approved a $20,000 bond issue to buy a motorized fire engine and construct a combined police and fire station on the west side of Railroad Avenue, south of Lake Avenue. Later that year, Wilmette received its new American-LaFrance Type 75, 750-GPM triple-combination pumper, which served as the department's primary engine for over 25 years. The combined station remained operational for half a century. Fast forward to May 15, 1915, at 2 PM on a Sunday, an explosion occurred in the film-developing room of the Will E. Horton camera shop in the Simpson Building on Davis Street. All three of the EFD’s engine companies were deployed, but despite their efforts, the camera shop was destroyed, and the neighboring C. H. Morgan grocery store suffered heavy smoke damage before the fire was finally put out, resulting in $8,500 worth of damage. On July 3, 1915, at noon on a Saturday, EFD Engine Co. 2 and Motor Engine Co. 1 responded to a fire on the roof of Mrs. Margaret Patterson’s home at 529 Lee Street. The fire had been sparked by a rogue Fourth of July bottle rocket. Flames quickly spread to neighboring rooftops to the west and east. Thanks to the firefighters' quick action, only the Patterson residence, along with the neighboring Robert Larimer and John W. Fellows homes, sustained significant roof damage. Firefighter William Wilbern of Engine Co. 2 suffered minor injuries when the roof collapsed beneath him while fighting the fire from a second-floor bedroom. Chief Albert Hofstetter of the EFD attended the International Association of Fire Engineers Convention in Cincinnati in September 1915. He reported back to the city council that while some departments were still purchasing horse-drawn steamers and aerial ladder trucks, none were displayed at the convention. He noted that automotive firefighting equipment had significantly improved since Evanston bought its Robinson Jumbo in 1911, predicting that horse-drawn rigs would soon be replaced nationwide by automobile fire trucks. During the convention, Hofstetter also mentioned the demonstration of a new fully-automated aerial ladder built by Ahrens-Fox on a Couple Gear chassis, featuring the Dahill Air Hoist system with an 85-foot wooden aerial-ladder supplied by Pirsch. This new ladder could be raised by a single person in just 11 seconds, compared to the 1907 American-LaFrance 85-foot HDA in Evanston’s fleet, which required two men to crank the winch. On January 8, 1916, a fire gutted Rosenberg’s Department Store at 820 Davis Street. Two years earlier, during the Heck Hall fire, two Chicago F.D. engine companies had assisted. This time, both Engine Co. 102 and Engine Co. 110 from Chicago arrived equipped with modern gasoline-powered automobile pumpers. Engine 102 had a brand-new Seagrave, while Engine 110 brought the 1912 Webb that had previously served Engine Co. 102. With EFD Motor Engine No. 1 (the Robinson “Jumbo”) also on-site, it was an opportunity for Evanston officials to compare the performance of these automobile pumpers under real-world conditions. An estimated 2,000 spectators gathered at Fountain Square as Evanston and Chicago firefighters battled the blaze late into Sunday morning. All three automobile pumpers ran out of fuel after the EFD’s reserve supply of 120 gallons was depleted, but additional gasoline was eventually located at a nearby garage. EFD Captain Ed Johnson of Motor Engine Co. 1 was seriously injured but made a full recovery and returned to duty. The $58,700 loss set a new record for the second-highest fire damage in Evanston's history up to that point. The American-LaFrance horse-drawn 85-foot windlass-operated aerial-ladder truck (HDA), purchased by Evanston in 1907 for $6,700, was in service for only nine years. It was wrecked in a collision with an Evanston Street Railway Company streetcar at Grove & Sherman while responding to an alarm on Hinman Avenue on the evening of September 18, 1916. Firefighters Dan McKimmons and Orville Wheeler were thrown to the ground and seriously injured in the crash. The Evanston Street Railway Company claimed the accident was unavoidable and refused to take responsibility, prompting the City of Evanston to pursue legal action against the ESRC’s insurance company to cover the cost of a new HDA. Unfortunately, the city had neglected to insure the vehicle, leaving litigation as the only option to avoid a significant emergency appropriation or a voter-approved bond issue. While awaiting the outcome of the lawsuit, the Evanston City Council decided to sell two of the four horses assigned to the wrecked HDA and lease a relatively new hook & ladder truck (without an aerial-ladder) from the Chicago office of American LaFrance for $60 per month. This two-horse H&L, previously serving in Peru, Indiana, was in excellent condition and served as EFD Truck No. 1 for about six months while it was being advertised for sale. American LaFrance sold the ex-Peru rig to the fire department of Toronto, Ontario, in March 1917. The EFD then leased the 1891 LaFrance / Hayes 55-foot aerial ladder truck with a three-horse hitch known as the “Lucille M. McQuade,” which had served as Chattanooga Fire Department Truck No. 1 for 25 years. The Chattanooga FD had recently acquired an automobile 75-foot TDA from American-LaFrance, trading in the old HDA as part of the deal. This early version of an HDA was unique in that the tillerman sat below the aerial-ladder! Acquiring the ex-Chattanooga HDA with a three-horse hitch meant the EFD needed another horse, so the 1873 Babcock double-50-gallon chemical engine was removed from active service, and its horse was reassigned to the HDA. The EFD returned the Lucille McQuade to American-LaFrance, and the three horses used to pull it were retired once a new automobile city service ladder truck arrived from Seagrave in November 1917. This was part of the $30,000 bond issue passed by Evanston voters in April 1917 that fully-motorized the EFD.

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