Chicago Fire Department Fire Boats Editorial Image

As an important port city, Chicago has operated dedicated fireboats since 1877.nIn 1986, the Chicago Tribune offered a history of Chicago`s larger fireboats, when the Chicago Fire Department moved the Victor L. Schlaeger from active to standby status.[2] According to that account, by 1908 the City was operating nine fireboats. However that was when many of the buildings that lined the waterfront were still made of wood, and by 1986 most of the factories and warehouses by the waterfront were built of concrete.