Archive for April, 2015

Mundelein fire chief retiring

Apr 30

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Mundelein Fire Chief Tim Sashko, who came to the department as chief in 2007, will leave the department at the end of the week for a post with a statewide industry group. Sashko, 56, will take over as executive director of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, an organization with which he’s worked closely for years.

He’d spent his [prior] career with the Buffalo Grove Fire Department. He started there in 1979 as a paid-on-call firefighter and worked his way up the ladder, becoming chief in 2002.

In Mundelein, Sashko developed a community emergency response team for disaster planning and relief, helped rewrite the village’s emergency operations plan and created the village’s first citizens fire academy. He also was instrumental in the acquisition and restoration of the village’s first fire truck, an effort that coincided with the village’s centennial in 2009.

A traditional walkout ceremony for Sashko will be held next week at the main fire station. It was delayed so that his two sons, who are firefighters in Mundelein and Naperville, could attend.

Deputy Chief Tim Leidig will serve as interim chief until a permanent replacement is named. Lobaito said he hopes officials will be able to make that decision by August or September.

thanks Dan

Tags: Deputy Chief Tim Leidig, Illinois Fire Chief's Association, Mundelein fire chief retiring, Mundelein Fire Chief Tim Sashko, Mundelein FIre Department

Wilmette firefighters and village in arbitration

Apr 30

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Excerpts from the Chicagotribune.com:

It will probably be Labor Day before Wilmette’s union-represented firefighters and village officials learn how an arbitrator has ruled in a contract dispute between the two parties. Until that time, the 33 unionized department employees comprising the majority of Wilmette’s 44 sworn firefighters will continue working without a new contract, as they have since Dec. 31, 2013.

The main issue holding up negotiations, which began before the last three-year contract expired, is the village’s desire to institute a two-tier wage system for firefighter-paramedics. Patrick Harrington, a representative of the firefighters, confirmed April 23 that contract talks had gone to an arbitrator for a ruling, and that the two-tier salary proposal was one of the issues. Harrington said both sides had agreed not to comment publicly on the negotiations beyond that.

Non-union village employees hired after Wilmette instituted a new, lower pay scale in January 2011 are paid less than those hired before that time. The move to a dual wage system was part of cost-cutting measures implemented in the 2011 budget. The village’s union-represented police accepted a similar two-tier system in 2013.

To view Wilmette’s police and fire contracts, visit http://www.wilmette.com and click on the village manager’s office menu.

thanks Dan

Tags: arbitration for Wilmette and firefighters, two-tier wage system at issue in contract talks, Wilmette Fire Department

FDIC 2015 (more)

Apr 30

Posted by Admin in Fire Truck photos | 3 Comments

Smeal and LTC had a brochure at the conference showcasing their newly acquired aerial product lines including the Snorkel, TeleSqurt, Squrt, and LTC (formerly LTI) units. Area apparatus were featured heavily throughout the literature.

Smeal Fire Apparatus Company brochure

This from Tyler Tobolt:

Here are photos I took at FDIC 2015. Photos of the new Mokena Engine 91 and Montgomery and Countryside Squad 1.

Thanks Tyler Tobolt.

Tyler Tobolt photo

Tyler Tobolt photo

Tags: FDIC 2015, Ladder Tower Company, LTC Aerials, Mokena Fire Protection District, Montgomery Countryside Fire Protection District, new engine for Mokena, new squad for Montgomery Countryside FPD, Smeal Fire Apparatus Company, Tyler Tobolt

Highwood may supplement manning with contract personnel

Apr 29

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The City of Highwood may contract with a private firm for the services of some firefighters and paramedics to ensure the level of staffing required for fire-insurance rating purposes.

According to City Manager Scott Coren, the Highwood Fire Department must have four people on duty to retain the rating from the Insurance Services Office. The four-person staffing level also is required under Highwood’s collective bargaining agreement with its fire union, an affiliate of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Under automatic-aid agreements, the city also is served by the Highland Park and Lake Forest departments and is available to assist them in return.

On April 8, the Highwood City Council, in a narrow 4-3 vote, directed staff to negotiate a contract with Kurtz Paramedic Services or another firm to provide supplemental full-time firefighters and ensure that Highwood maintains minimum manning requirements. The small department that serves the city of 5,400 residents currently has four full-time non-probationary firefighters/paramedics. A fifth full-time employee is within the probationary period. The full-time workforce is supplemented by part-time employees. The council’s vote triggered a 30-day waiting period required by fire union contract. An agreement could be finalized as early as mid-May.

There are no plans to lay off the full-time, non-probationary firefighters/paramedics should the city contract with a private firm for supplemental personnel, the manager said.

Kurtz currently employs more than 750 people as firefighters and paramedics, according to Tom Vana, president and chief executive officer of the firm. It holds contracts with 26 municipalities and fire protection districts. Its client list includes the municipalities of Wheaton, Bensenville, Lyons, Tinley Park, Westmont and Crete and fire protection districts in South Chicago Heights, Frankfort and Plainfield.

Vana told the council the average experience of the firm’s firefighter/paramedic employees is a little less than 15 years. Should the firm win the contract, preferential hiring would be extended to Highwood employees unless an employee assigned elsewhere requests a transfer to work in Highwood, he said.

Addressing the Highwood City Council the night of the vote, Fire Battalion Chief David Mohry expressed concerns over the impact even a few private employees would have on a department of Highwood’s size. He also expressed worry about the rate of turnover.

thanks Dan

Tags: Fire Battalion Chief David Mohry, Highwood Fire Department, Highwood may add contract personnel, Kurtz Paramedic Services

House fire in Palatine, 4/28/15

Apr 29

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 1 Comment

Palatine FD Pres Release

Tags: 00, Palatine Fire Department, press release

Lake Villa FD updates

Apr 29

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, New Delivery | 2 Comments

This from Jeff Rudolph:

The buggy is the new Battalion 24, 2015 Chevy Tahoe

Brush 243 – 2015 Ford F550/ EJ Metals 8-gpm, 2800-psi high-pressure 300/10A

Brush 244 – 2015 Ford F550/ EJ Metals 8-gpm, 2800-psi high-pressure 300/10A

New Chevy Tahoe for Lake Villa Battalion 24. Jeff Rudolph photo

New Ford/EJ Metals brush units for the Lake Villa Fire Department. Jeff Rudolph photo

New Ford/EJ Metals brush unit for the Lake Villa Fire Department. Jeff Rudolph photo

Tags: Chevy Tahoe for fire chief, EJ Metals, Jeff Rudolph, Lake Villa Fire Department, new brush unit for Crete Fire Department

Take your child to work day with the Elgin FD

Apr 28

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Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com::

On Thursday,[Kody Bruce], the son of Elgin Fire Department Battalion Chief Terry Bruce and Lt. Amanda Bruce got to learn about being a firefighter like his parents — and saw how science is also part of their jobs. Thursday was “Take Your Child to Work Day.”

Elgin firefighters began the first day of a four-day training exercise Thursday, practicing basement fires at a house at 980 Lavoie Avenue. Scheduled for demolition because of its location in a flood way, the house will be used for several different training scenarios over the next few weeks before it is demolished.

Two engine crews from various fire stations were training at the house at any one time Thursday morning. Department instructors had placed a burn barrel with pallets and straw on top to simulate an actual basement fire — creating lots of smoke but not actually starting the home on fire, explained Battalion Chief Tim Michaels.

Basement fires create their own set of challenges, Terry Bruce said. “You are going down into the chimney” as hot air rushes up and out a staircase, he said. Once firefighters get into the basement, the heat usually relents.

Kody peppered his father with questions about the firefighters — what they did inside a house, or why they wouldn’t just bring out a ladder truck and pour water on the fire from on top. Once a ladder truck starts pouring water from the top, the structure is probably done for, Terry Bruce explained. It pushes the heat and smoke out, instead of containing it.

Off-duty for the day, Terry Bruce was the battalion chief the night before for a 2:45 a.m. attic fire at 627 Villa Street. Smoke in the neighborhood was so heavy that firefighters first had a difficult time identifying the house. Once firefighters entered the home, the home’s roof went up in flames. Typically, once firefighters are inside, another crew is sent to the roof to open up ventilation holes, but because there was fire coming out of the roof, Terry didn’t want to send firefighters onto a roof that could collapse.

thanks Dan

Tags: Battalion Chief Tim Michaels, Elgin Fire Department, Elgin Fire Department Battalion Chief Terry Bruce, Kody Bruce, take your child to work day

Box Alarm in Batavia, 4/25/15

Apr 28

Posted by Admin in Fire Scene photos | Comments off

This from John Tulipano:

On Saturday April 25th at approximately 6:55pm Batavia was dispatched to an automatic alarm at 601 Kingslands Dr. Companies arrived to find heavy smoke in the building, and subsequently upgraded to a general alarm and then to a MABAS box alarm.

The fire was knocked down quickly, but heavy smoke remained throughout the building and a special call was made for the MVU from MABAS Division 1 to assist in ventilation.

More images are on my website