Bill Friedrich informs us of the following:
The Beach Park FPD has purchased the x-Villa Park ladder truck. It is a 1991 Pierce Arrow 105′ rear mount aerial with a 1,500-GPM pump and 300-gallon water tank.
Villa Park Truck 971, which has not been staffed for quite some time has been sold to the Beach Park Fire Department in northern Lake County. Bill Friedrich photo
#1 by tim on July 26, 2012 - 9:42 PM
Beach Park also purchased a 2012 F550 ambulance that is on their website
#2 by Matthew G on July 11, 2012 - 11:33 AM
It looks like Beach Park’s truck is in service as 1231. Also it looks like they have a new ambulance going into service as 1243. Not sure of service date but it is a Ford F series on a full-size mod. The ambulance is on Beach Park’s website. Its a Ford F-550 and the body style appears to be an AEV rig and its been sitting behind their engine for a week or more. Any clarification is appreciated
#3 by Concerned on July 9, 2012 - 9:09 PM
Mark:
I dont think its a very good idea to bash your neighboring dept openly on a public board. I bet Chief Kirchhofer wouldnt approve one of his inexperienced guys with a whopping 3 years on the job doing so.
#4 by Matthew G on July 5, 2012 - 9:24 PM
Beach Park has recieved this apparatus. I saw it through their bay doors passing by the firehouse sitting behind 1243. It has their letting but its hard to tell what else. The department seems to have done some apparatus reshuffling. 1222 is at Station 2 now and 1212 is their front-line at Station 1.
#5 by DMC77 on April 9, 2012 - 5:33 PM
ISO itself is an outdated and ineffective way to “rate” fire departments. My dept. cut each shift by 2, but the city upgraded some of its water mains, so we can flow more water. ISO result: our rating stayed the same. We have the possibility to flow more water onto fires, but without the manpower to do it, what’s the point?
#6 by Tom Foley on April 9, 2012 - 12:39 PM
Personally, the ISO rating becomes worthless if it can be lowered just by having a truck. I’d rather see some measurable results that would factor in to that equation such as how many hours were spent training with it, what is the ratio of staff to equipment (to see that it can be adequately staffed).
Not speaking just to Beach Park, but generally.
#7 by Crispy on April 9, 2012 - 6:26 AM
Every Department should have a truck for the ability to run a master stream from the tip and train on at the very least. Beach Park like most FT/PT Departments has many qualified moonlighters to push that rig out the door and make good use of it. Also, there’s no guarantee that trucks from neighboring departments will be properly staffed, if they’re even available. Maybe they want to raise their ISO rating. They got a truck for less than a new chief’s buggy and they are taking that responsibility on themselves. From my viewpoint you can’t fault them for that
#8 by John C on April 2, 2012 - 6:54 PM
R….how would 50K do anything to beef up staffing levels or personnel? That’s not even enough to pay ONE firefighter’s yearly salary….much less benefits, etc. And if you’re talking about POC members…that 50K is still going to dry up quickly, considering the need to train and equip each one.
#9 by R on April 2, 2012 - 5:56 PM
There are some interesting points from some of the guys posts. Also remember, a couple years back they narrowly passed a referendum to keep ambulance service and the personnel for them, since ambulance service was never properly funded by the district in the first place. Even if the truck costs as little as $50k, that money could go a long way in retaining the personnel they have, or better yet, upgrading staffing levels to safe and effective numbers.
#10 by Pat on April 2, 2012 - 2:02 PM
Lets not forget that the trucks coming into Beach Park are not manned well either. They have a 2 man truck coming from Zion. Gurnee has a Tower Ladder that jumps to a third ambulance if needed so they might not be available. Also Winthrop Harbor has a 75 ft truck that is not well manned either. Waukegan is the only one with a good truck if they needed it. Also they have the Illinois Beach State Park hotel which they would have great use for a truck there.
I also can say that Beach Park has better manpower than the other departments in Quad 1 north, so lets see how they utilize it before beating them down. I can also talk from experience since I used to work there.
#11 by chris r on April 2, 2012 - 1:31 AM
What if they got it cheap and wanted to decrease their iso rating by having a ladder truck in town. The laddder was rarely used, so probaly very low miles and VILLA PARK probaly needed the room since closing down the old station one on home ave. I’m sure VILLA PARK sold very cheap to BEACH PARK because its a 1991, so it’s 21 years old and rarely used. It’s not like they spent a million dollars on a brand new truck with all the toys.
#12 by R on April 1, 2012 - 9:17 PM
Marco,
Don’t know about the other guy but I work at a neighboring dept, we run auto aid with them and I know people on their department. A couple reasons, in my opinion, that they don’t need an aerial: nothing over 3 stories in their still and 4 of 5 towns they border have trucks. Additionally, they’re already undermanned utilizing jump companies, they have 2 stations with 2 engines, 2 Ambos, a tender, a command van and brush unit. They’re only going to get 2 maybe 3 of those rigs on the road, and they’ll only have 2 ffs per, for a fire. What’s the point of having all these rigs sitting in your stations that you can’t push out the door due to staffing. Why not spend money on manpower and have some properly staffed rigs without jump companies, and use auto aid intelligently. On a side note, this is another in a string of odd decisions by this dept. Recently this 1100 call dept that has a small response area opened a second station, that’s in another dept district.
I agree that there are people on here speaking on matters they know nothing about. In this case, however, I feel I know enough to make an observation.
#13 by Markus on April 1, 2012 - 8:40 PM
Marco, As a previous member of the Beach Park Fire Protection District I think I know the district that they serve and the way they run to say this. They do not need a Ladder Truck.
#14 by Marco on April 1, 2012 - 7:54 PM
I just want to say….I love it how people who have NO relation to these departments can come on here (with NO idea of the departments intentions, ideas, or plans) and say what they do and don’t need and how the department should be run. It’s the exact same thing as the politicians and citizens who don’t know anything about the fire service coming in and mandating our staffing and response levels.
Come on guys…….
#15 by R on April 1, 2012 - 4:18 PM
Thats a good question. They don’t need one.
#16 by Markus on April 1, 2012 - 1:58 PM
What does Beach Park need a ladder for?