The Trib Local – Crystal Lake has a thorough article HERE about the Lakewood Fire Department and the future arrangements with the Woodstock Fire Rescue Department. Among the information in the article are the costs for services that Lakewood will pay to The Woodstock Fire Rescue Department over the next five years and information about the $10,000 per month that they will pay to American Emergency Services for the year 2011. The article also outlines the status of apparatus and personnel currently under the umbrella of the Lakewood Fire Department.

The chief and part-time deputy will not be retained. All full-time employees will be evaluated and offered part-time positions with the opportunity to go through Woodstock’s testing process to become full-time. Because the fire district is part of a union, full-time firefighters can’t be absorbed.

Not all current employees will be hired, Woodstock Fire Chief Ralph Webster said. Administrators will not be retained because Woodstock already has those positions. Wage and benefits would change little, he said.

Thanks again to Dennis McGuire, Jr. for