From Phil Stenholm: Another chapter unfolds about the **History of the Evanston Fire Department**. --- Hey folks, Here's another update on the history of the Evanston Fire Department (EFD). Back in 1965, Chief Lester Breitzman and the platoon commanders got their hands on Motorola HT-200 portable two-way radios. This meant the platoon commander no longer needed a dedicated driver/radio operator since the chief could now carry his own handheld radio. As a result, the firefighters who used to drive F-2 were reassigned to Squad 21, becoming the squad’s fourth man per shift. When using these radios, the chief would identify himself as “F-1-X,” while the platoon commander was “F-2-X.” Later, company officers also received handie-talkies, identifying themselves as “Engine 23-X,” “Squad 21-X,” and so on. Wayne Anderson took over as Evanston’s city manager in 1963. With Squad 21 back in active service and responding with four men to every fire call, Bert Johnson’s Police-Fire Cooperative Plan quietly faded away in 1965. However, the three police station-wagon patrol-ambulances stayed in service and continued handling inhalator calls and ambulance runs. While police officers weren’t expected to act as firefighters anymore (unless it was an emergency), new recruits still received basic firefighting training. Between 1964 and 1966, the EFD added three new station wagons to its fleet. There was a 1964 Plymouth station wagon (F-3), assigned to a Fire Prevention Bureau inspector during office hours and kept at Fire Station #5 overnight and on weekends. A 1965 Dodge station wagon (F-5) was assigned to the Training Officer at Station #1, and a 1966 Ford station wagon (F-1) was given to Chief Breitzman at Station #2. These wagons were fully equipped with stretchers and first-aid kits, doubling as auxiliary ambulances to support the three police patrol-ambulances. F-2, the old platoon commander’s 1963 Plymouth station wagon, stopped serving as an auxiliary ambulance in 1965 after the platoon commander’s driver joined Squad 21. However, F-1 always had a driver, and if available, F-3 was staffed by Engine 25 personnel. F-5 was manned by either the fourth man from Squad 21 or Truck 21 when needed. Additionally, Squad 21, along with station wagons F-1 and F-3, carried a wooden backboard referred to as a “fracture board.” So, they were dispatched to incidents involving significant back or neck injuries. In 1965, Reserve Engine 26 (the EFD’s oldest rig, a 1927 Seagrave Standard 1000 / 50 TCP) was retired. The EFD mechanics transformed it into playground equipment. They removed the engine, pump, transmission, and drivetrain, sealing everything shut and covering the undercarriage with sheet metal. Once finished, they installed the vintage pumper in Firemen’s Park at the southwest corner of Simpson & Maple. The previous spring, the department had used the vacant former church on the site for live burn practice drills. In 1964, Chief Breitzman requested the city buy a new “more useful” squad rig and convert the existing 1952 Pirsch squad into a triple-combination pumper by swapping out the squad body for a standard pumper body. The Pirsch squad had spent much of its 12 years in and out of service, so it had relatively low mileage compared to Other 1952 Pirsch pumpers. It also lacked a hose bed, meaning its 1000 GPM pump hadn’t been used often and was almost brand-new. Once converted to a TCP, it would join the fleet as Engine 22. The new squad would feature an electric winch capable of pulling 18,000 pounds, a reconditioned auxiliary pump, a 300-gallon water tank, modern extrication tools, and a top-mounted deluge nozzle salvaged from the decommissioned high-pressure hose truck. Quartz lights would replace the older military-style searchlights. Most importantly, the new squad would include a hose bed with space for two 250-foot leads of 1-1/2 inch hose pre-connected to two rear discharge ports for quick fire attacks. A new factory-built Pirsch pumper-squad purchased by Skokie in 1965 cost $25,000, so City Manager Anderson sought a cheaper solution. In 1965, the city bought four new garbage trucks—International-Harvester R-190 cab & chassis with Leach Packmaster bodies—and Anderson got the idea to add an extra cab & chassis to the order. He then bought a custom-built squad body, a winch, an auxiliary pump, a water tank, and a quartz lighting system separately and had EFD mechanics assemble everything at Station #1. The city council loved the plan and approved $13,000 for it. The International cab & chassis cost $4,474, the auxiliary pump, tank, plumbing, quartz lights, and fabrication/installation of the squad body totaled $4,974, and the Braden winch came in at $725. The 1952 Pirsch squad body cost $4,000. EFD mechanics easily installed the winch, pump, tank, and plumbing, but General Body Co. (based in Chicago) fabricated and installed the squad body. General Body, famous for building the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, also made unusual vehicles like the Autocar squads for the Chicago Fire Department and salvage trucks for the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol. They’d previously built a squad for the Niles Fire Department by combining a GMC cab & chassis with one of their own fabricated squad bodies. Evanston asked them to replicate the Niles design with a few tweaks. General Body completed the project in four months, and Squad 21 went into service in April 1966. Though sometimes called the “garbage truck” due to its origin, and firefighters riding on the tailboard were jokingly called “garbagemen,” Squad 21 was the busiest company in the EFD. It handled inhalator calls, minor fires, and miscellaneous details in Station #1’s district and responded to all fires and rescue-extrication calls citywide. The crew also manned the DUKW amphibious vehicle (F-7) when needed. The former Squad 21, converted to a 1000 / 100 TCP, returned to service as Engine 22 in August 1966, replacing the 1949 Seagrave 1000 / 80 TCP, which went into reserve at Station #5 as Engine 26. The Pirsch pumper’s hose bed included two 250-foot leads of 1-1/2 inch hose pre-connected to two rear discharge ports, plus 1,500 feet of 2-1/2 inch hose and 300 feet of three-inch hose. It was the first EFD pumper without lengths of hard suction hose. Both the new Squad 21 and Engine 22 sported the EFD repair shop’s generic military-style graphics—black tape with “EVANSTON” in gold on the hood sides. The same style was used on EFD station wagons and the DUKW from 1964 to 1971. Squad 21 and Engine 22 also featured custom-designed gold shields with black lettering on the cab doors, later swapped for black shields with gold lettering in 1970. Around this time, the older front-line engines and trucks swapped their Mars FL-8 and DX-40 football-shaped warning lights for more visible white/red beacon-style emergency lights. Reserve Engine 28 (formerly Engine 24, a 1937 Seagrave 750 / 80 TCP at Station #4) failed its annual pump test in 1966, and the other reserve Seagrave 750 / 80 TCP (Engine 27 at Station #3) had a blown engine. Once the rebuilt Pirsch TCP entered service at Station #2 and the 1949 Seagrave pumper went into reserve at Station #5, EFD mechanics transferred the motor from Engine 28 to Engine 27 to keep it running a bit longer. Engine 28 was then stripped for spare parts and scrapped. --- Take care, Phil

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