Part 2 of a commentary by Bill Post on the history of the Chicago Fire Department continues where Part 1 left off, which you can find here. Mike, like you, I found it absurd that the Chicago Fire Department operated with a 'Snorkel Squad 3' for over two years without actually having a Snorkel assigned to it. It was only in the last few months before it went out of service that they finally corrected the designations, renaming Snorkel Squads 2 and 3 as Rescue 2 and Rescue 3. There was a reason behind this, though. While it might seem like the decision came solely from the Maatman Report, which was a consultant study commissioned by the city, that wasn't entirely accurate. Ultimately, the city didn't want to invest the funds required to keep fire companies operational and adequately staffed.
The City of Chicago hired a consultant named Gerald Maatman, who led the Fire Science program at the Illinois Institute of Technology and also managed the National Loss Control Service Corporation. In 1963, the city hired him to conduct a comprehensive review of the Chicago Fire Department, examining its stations, their locations, and the distribution of its fire companies. This study was partly aimed at helping Chicago improve its AIA fire insurance rating to a Class 2, which they achieved the following year. You should know that the AIA is now known as ISO and was initially called the National Board of Fire Underwriters. The 1963/64 Maatman study was quite solid. It suggested building numerous new fire stations and relocating fire companies from central areas to outer regions with insufficient station coverage.
Although Maatman recommended taking some companies out of service, he also advised moving others into newly constructed stations. His report did not suggest reducing personnel levels; in fact, he recommended adding a sixth man to a few selected fire companies. The report advised removing 16 engines from the 120 still in service and adding three new truck companies to the existing 60. No Snorkels, Snorkel Squads, or squad companies were recommended for removal. Five years later, in 1968, another Maatman Report was commissioned by the city, but this time, the recommendations differed significantly from the first.
Let me explain what changed. In 1967, the Chicago Fire Department granted firefighters an extra day off, effectively reducing their working hours. However, the city refused to hire more personnel or increase firefighter positions to account for the reduced hours. By 1967, two squad companies had been out of service for several years. Squad 12 was disbanded in 1964 to form Truck 62, and Squad 7 was taken out of service in 1965 to create Snorkel Squad 3. In December 1966 and February 1967, Squads 1 and 2 became Salvage Squads 1 and 2. This wasn't a major change since they stayed at the same locations and retained the same vehicles, only receiving more salvage covers and responding citywide on 2-11 calls for salvage duties. In April 1967, Squad 3 was involved in a severe accident, leading to the vehicle being declared a total loss. Squad Company 3 was disbanded on April 17th. Squads 6 and 13 were decommissioned on June 16th, just three months after Squad 3's disbandment. Squads 8 and 10 were downgraded to one-man companies responding only to Still and Box Alarms with their drivers. Just over a month later, Squad 10 was removed from service, and Squad 5 became a one-man unit.
By the end of the summer, only Salvage Squads 1 and 2, along with Squads 4, 9, and 11, remained fully manned. By early 1968, all squads, except for Salvage Squads 1 and 2, and Squads 4 and 9, were out of service. I'm not including Snorkel Squads 1, 2, and 3, which were still operational in 1968, even though SS3 had been running without a Snorkel for over a year. Due to the reduced hours, the staffing crisis was so severe that by 1968, one couldn't predict whether an engine or truck would operate with five or only four men. The unpredictable staffing situation was another reason the city rehired Gerald Maatman for another study.
This new study recommended that approximately 3/5ths of the engine and truck companies operate with only four men assigned. It also proposed creating six Flying Manpower Squads, each with a crew of six firefighters, to respond to still alarms and support the four-man companies. The remaining engines and trucks, located downtown, near the lakefront, and in bustling parts of the city, were to continue operating with five-man crews. These teams typically wouldn't have a Flying Manpower Squad respond alongside them.
There was more to the 1968 Maatman Report. It recommended removing all three Snorkel Squads from service and keeping only Salvage Squad 1 as the "downtown" squad company. He stated in his report that the specialized equipment carried on the Snorkel Squads could be transferred to the new Flying Manpower Squads and the remaining Salvage Squad. He also suggested assigning some of the equipment to engines and trucks. He was correct, as the fire department began equipping most engine companies with new multi-versals that were previously only carried on the Snorkel Squads.
The CFD also began assigning all truck companies a K-12 rotary power saw, which had previously been exclusive to the Snorkel Squads. In the same 1968 report, the consultant recommended removing one regular Snorkel Company (Snorkel 6) from service. Another suggestion was to move Snorkel 3 from Engine 84's old house to Engine 60, which wasn't an issue after Snorkel Squad 2 was removed. Snorkel 2 was supposed to stay at Engine 28's house, except they were to receive Snorkel Squad 1's new Mack MB 55-foot Snorkel that had been delivered in 1967. Snorkel 4 was to be moved from Engine 25 (near the Loop) to Engine 67 (on the far west side), and Snorkel 7 was to be relocated from Engine 55's house to Engine Company 110. Snorkel 5 would remain at Engine 43's house on the northwest side. The goal was to have the five remaining Snorkels positioned either in or near high-fire-frequency areas. In those days (the late 1960s), the high-fire-frequency area on the south side didn't extend much further south than 79th or 83rd Streets, about as far east as Jeffrey (2000 East), and about as far west as Ashland (1600 West).
The consultant also recommended installing ladder pipes on every truck company. At the time, there were fewer than 25 ladder pipes in use. Having a ladder pipe on a truck allowed them to deploy an elevated stream without waiting for a Snorkel to arrive.
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