Archive for January 25th, 2016

Chicago Inspector General suggests savings for CFD

Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:

The Chicago Fire Department could save at least $1.2 million a year and potentially millions more in overtime by hiring civilians to perform 34 administrative jobs that have nothing to do with firefighting or emergency medical service, Inspector General Joe Ferguson said Wednesday.

Three years after urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to civilianize police jobs to save up to $16.6 million a year and put another 292 police officers on the street, Ferguson outlined a similar cost-cutting recipe for the Chicago Fire Department.

After analyzing the duties and responsibilities of 555 uniformed firefighters and paramedics within the $576.7 million-a-year fire department bureaucracy, Ferguson recommended that Emanuel hire civilians to perform 34 of those jobs and eliminate the job of commissary liaison altogether.

That would save Chicago taxpayers at least $1.2 million a year, reduce annual fire department overtime that has topped $40 million in recent years and allow for a more effective deployment of personnel to improve public safety outcomes and response times to fire and medical emergencies, Ferguson said.

Two firefighters whose jobs were targeted for civilians actually served as mail carriers, even though their jobs were not always documented in position descriptions or titles, the inspector general concluded. The others were assigned to administrative duties, such as making certain that fire department scheduling complies with minimum staffing requirements mandated by the firefighters contract.

The fire department embraced Ferguson’s recommendation on 32 of the 35 targeted positions. Commissioner Jose Santiago further agreed to follow the inspector general’s recommendation to assess all positions, monitor and track temporary assignments and ensure that job descriptions reflect actual responsibilities of uniformed positions.

“There are likely to be more positions in CFD that could be civilianized,” Ferguson wrote, noting that New York and Philadelphia have civilians working as fire inspectors while Chicago still assigns those jobs to uniformed firefighters.

Such a periodic review has potential to save even more money, but only if the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 goes along. During the audit, the fire department tried to get a head start by civilianizing some of the jobs Ferguson was targeting, including the two mail delivery positions. But Local 2 filed a grievance.

“Delivering mail has been Local 2 bargaining members for decades. This is a unilateral work rule change not negotiated with Local 2 . . . Stop this practice immediately and return this work to bargaining unit personnel,” the grievance stated.

Tom Ryan, president of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, stood his ground. “Mr. Ferguson is entitled to his opinion. But the positions referenced in his report are staffed by firefighters and paramedics and are essential to the efficient functioning of the fire department,” Ryan wrote to the Chicago Sun-Times. “These jobs are covered under our current contract and, therefore, can only be discussed in negotiations.”

Ferguson’s audit also concluded that the fire department provided at least 13 reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act either informally or without proper approval by the disability officer in the city’s Department of Human Resources.

That’s even though the department could not determine whether it had identified all uniformed members who had been granted accommodations.

“Such accommodations effectively remove firefighters and paramedics from operations, so it is critical that CFD grant and track such accommodations systematically and in compliance with city policy,” Ferguson wrote in a letter to aldermen and the mayor that accompanied Wednesday’s audit.

thanks Dan

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Rolling Meadows discusses rebuilding fire stations (more)

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Rolling Meadows officials will start interviewing project management firms next week as the next step in the city’s efforts to relocate both  fire stations … the city council last year decided to move both stations to improve emergency response times.

Seven project management firms responded to a request for qualifications, Chief Scott Franzgrote told the city council Tuesday and interviews with four of the companies will help make sure the costs estimates are all-inclusive. Rolling Meadows has Fire Station 15 at 3111 Meadow Drive, which was built in 1958, and Fire Station 16 at 2455 S. Plum Grove Road, which was built in 1980. Under the plan, both would be relocated — though it hasn’t been determined to where — to better balance the calls the department receives.

According to city documents, the cost of building two new fire stations is about $9 million, which includes all design, land acquisition, engineering, architectural and construction costs.

Deciding what to do about the city’s fire stations has been somewhat of a moving target over the past few years. In 2014, the council decided to build a third station, but reversed course last year and voted to remain at two stations, but in new locations.

thanks Dan

Excerpts from the JournalTopics.com:

As the city continues to grapple with the issue of whether to pour funds into fixing a 57-year-old fire station in need of extensive repairs, and whether to move the second station to better meet the needs of a growing community, aldermen last year gave the fire department and city staff the go-ahead to develop a plan on building and relocating the two fire stations.

The request for qualifications that went out from the city said the project will have an anticipated budget of $9,000,000. The project manager would oversee planning and implementation of the project including relocating both fire stations, evaluating station location sites, land acquisition, relocation to temporary facilities if required, creating budgets and project schedules, and coordination of relevant entities such as real estate agents, architects, consultants, engineers, contractors, vendors and more.

Rolling Meadows firehouse are Station 15 (Fogarty Station), 3111 Meadow Dr., which serves areas of the city east of Route 53, and Station 16 (Neucranz Station), 2455 S. Plum Grove Rd., which serves the city west of Route 53.

Station 15 was built in 1958 by the newly formed Rolling Meadows Fire District. At the time, it was a one-story building with two apparatus bays and a kitchen. The station was positioned in a location that represented the center of the fire district’s response area.

Franzgrote has said a new fire station is needed to meet an increasing demand for service, especially on the city’s south side, and to maintain quick response times.

More posts on this topic are HERE

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Smeal/Ladder Tower Co building first 55′ Snorkel (more)

Several readers have submitted the following information from the Interstate Emergency Vehicles, Inc.  Facebook page and the Smeal website about the first Snorkel being built by Smeal

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Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 11.32.20 AM

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Vintage Chicago fire scene: 5-11 alarm in 1967

This from Steve Redick:

Here are a few news clippings from a spectacular job, 5-11 Alarm Harrison & Throop in 1967. Also, some video and radio traffic found on  ChicagoFD.org.  Jim Evans, my old boss, was the radio operator at Main that day.

 

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967. Warren Redick collection

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967. Warren Redick collection

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967. Warren Redick collection

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967. Warren Redick collection

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967

News clipping from a spectacular 5-11 Alarm fire in Chicago at Harrison & Throop in 1967. Warren Redick collection


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