A Commentary: CFD apparatus history – part 3 of 3

While Fire Commissioner Quinn did put the six Flying Manpower Squads into service, he (understandably) decided to keep Snorkel Squad 1 active. Instead, Snorkel 2 was taken out of service, and less than a year before the Maatman Report recommendations were implemented, five additional salvage squads were added. When the Flying Manpower Squads were introduced in 1969, Salvage Squad 1—recommended for retention by the consultant—was removed from service on May 1, 1969, the same day that Flying Manpower Squad 4 was activated. In fact, they used the 1954 AutoCar Squad previously assigned to Salvage Squad 1.

Rescue 3, the remnants of Snorkel Squad 3, also went out of service on that day. Although the 1968 Maatman Report was published in November 1968, and the recommended six Flying Manpower Squads were all in place by November 1969, Fire Commissioner Bob Quinn had not yet removed Snorkel 6 from service, nor had he moved Snorkel 4 from Engine 25 to Engine 67. The south side still had more than one Snorkel assigned to it, even after Snorkel 2 was retired in February 1969.

On March 9, 1970, Truck 31 was moved from Engine 104’s station on the south loop to a new location on the far southwest side. Snorkel 4 was relocated from Engine 25 to Engine 104 on the same day. Then, on July 7, 1970, a brick wall collapsed on Snorkel 7 while they were fighting a smoldering fire at a vacant factory in the 1700 block of North Ashland Avenue. Snorkel 7 was completely destroyed, and Firefighter Jack Walsh later died from injuries sustained during the collapse. Snorkel 7 was never replaced, leaving only Snorkel 5 on the north side of the city.

Several months later, in early 1971, Gerald Maatman, the fire department’s consultant, released a follow-up report reviewing the department’s compliance with the 1968 recommendations. While many of the original suggestions had been implemented, some key items were still unaddressed. Because Quinn chose to keep Snorkel Squad 1 in service and instead removed Snorkel 2 and Salvage Squad 1, the consultant recommended that Snorkel Squad 1 be relocated to Engine 5’s house.

Despite this recommendation, Snorkel Squad 1 remained at its original location on 1044 N. Orleans as long as Quinn was in charge. The 1971 Maatman report also suggested that a seventh Flying Manpower Squad be established at Engine 108’s station on the far northwest side. However, rather than being placed there, Flying Manpower Squad 5 ended up at Engine 114’s old station near Fullerton and Central Park—a location too far southeast to effectively cover the northwest side.

The Flying Manpower Squads were using outdated pumpers from the 1940s and 1950s and lacked much of the squad-type equipment recommended in the 1968 report. Maatman had provided detailed specifications for the types and amounts of equipment each squad should carry, along with specific apparatus requirements.

There were still six active Salvage Squads, but the report recommended removing Salvage Squads 6 and 7, which operated in areas already covered by the Flying Squads, making their presence redundant. Additionally, two truck companies—Trucks 43 and 46—were still active despite being recommended for removal in previous reports. These units occupied space that had been intended for Snorkel companies. Once again, the report urged their deactivation.

Snorkel 4 was meant to be relocated to Engine 67 (Truck 46), and Snorkel 7 was supposed to go to Engine 110 (Truck 43) along with Flying Squad 6. But these moves couldn’t happen while the trucks were still in service. On November 16, 1971, Trucks 46 and 43 were finally taken out of service, and Snorkel 6 was moved from Engine 46 on the southeast side to Engine 110 on the north side. Snorkel 6 had originally been recommended for removal, but since Snorkel 7 had been destroyed in 1970, it was instead relocated.

Snorkel 4 wasn’t relocated to Engine 67 until June 1972. After that, not only was Snorkel 3 the only Snorkel left on the south side, but Snorkel 4, which had been second-due in the south loop, was now stationed on the far west side. This created an ironic situation where there were two Snorkels on the north, one on the west, and just one on the south. Downtown had no Snorkels except for Snorkel Squad 1, which had a 50-foot Snorkel on the near north side. To be fair, Snorkel 5 was located in a high-fire area, and Snorkel 6 was just west of another high-risk zone.

Because the south side was so far from a second Snorkel company, Snorkel 5 was automatically dispatched to assist Snorkel 3 on Still and Box Alarms. It wasn’t until January 1975 that Snorkel 5 was relocated from Engine 57 to Engine 5, bringing it closer to the south side. Two years later, in 1977, it was moved again, this time to Engine 23 on the west side. It wasn’t until April 1981 that the south side regained a second Snorkel, when Snorkel 4—using a 55-foot Hendrickson Pierce from Snorkel Squad 1—was placed at Engine 123’s station.

One month later, Snorkel 3 was renumbered as Snorkel 5 to match its new fire district and was relocated to Engine 72’s station. In May 1981, all Snorkels were renumbered and reallocated to align with the five new fire districts, which replaced the seven old divisions on April 11, 1981. Snorkel 5 became Snorkel 1, Snorkel 4 became Snorkel 2, Snorkel 6 became Snorkel 3, and Snorkel 3 became Snorkel 5. Snorkel Squad 1 was officially taken out of service on October 3, 1980.

So Mike, Commissioner Quinn literally saved Snorkel Squad 1 from being retired in 1969 and delayed the relocation of other Snorkels, but after Snorkel 7 was destroyed, he had to move Snorkel 6 to the north side. Again, the city didn’t want to hire more firefighters to properly staff the companies after 1967, so Maatman was told to find a way to operate the department on the same budget without hiring more personnel.

Some of his recommendations were good, such as adding useful tools like K-12 saws and ladder pipes to trucks, and multi-versals to engines. He also suggested putting air masks on engines and trucks, which the CFD was extremely slow to implement. These changes didn’t happen until the late 1970s and early 1980s. Compared to other departments, the CFD was lagging in basic safety equipment.

Many of the new fire stations built in the 1970s were based on Maatman’s recommendations. For example, Engine 70 and Truck 47’s new station was proposed in 1968. If the city had been willing to hire more firefighters, the report wouldn’t have needed to suggest reducing company sizes or cutting special units. By the way, did you know that in 1968, the last full year both Snorkel Squad 3 and Snorkel Squad 2 were active, they were the busiest companies in Chicago? Snorkel Squad 3 responded to 5,952 calls, and Snorkel Squad 2 had 5,117 runs.

This wasn’t bad considering that Snorkel Squad 3 hadn’t used a Snorkel since January 1967, and Snorkel Squad 2 had stopped using one by mid-1968. At that time, all the different types of squads were automatically dispatched to still alarms with engines and trucks, without waiting for confirmation of a working fire. This led to many “hold the squad” messages and unnecessary turnbacks.

As the only units equipped with K-12 saws, multi-versals, and back-mounted air masks, the three Snorkel Squads would respond together on every 2-11 alarm across the city. In 1967 and 1968, power saws were first introduced on truck companies, and multi-versals on engines, reducing the need for the Snorkel Squads. Air masks weren’t installed on engines and trucks until the late 1970s.

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