This from Josh Boyajian:
New ambulance in Maywood, A500 2014 Ford E-450/Wheeled Coach Type III
Maywood Ambulance 500 – 2014 Ford E450/Wheeled Coach Type III. Josh Boyajian photo
Archive for July, 2016
New Ambulance in Maywood
Jul 24
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
In the wake of recent news that 911 dispatchers in the villages of Harwood Heights, Norridge, and Schiller Park will face imminent layoffs as the towns prepare to consolidate their emergency call centers, one community is taking action to stop dispatchers from leaving their jobs. The approximately 35 dispatchers who now work in all three towns combined will be whittled to 18 to 20 dispatchers who will work in the new call center. The consolidated center is expected to open sometime next year, and all employees will have to reapply for their jobs if they wish to stay.
Three dispatchers at Norridge’s 911 call center have quit since the state-mandated consolidation was announced in March, according to Norridge Police Chief Dave Disselhorst. That prompted Norridge officials on July 13 to support a measure to offer retention bonuses to the village’s remaining 11 dispatchers. The potential bonus amount has not yet been determined.
The Harwood Heights Police Department was chosen in June by a consulting firm hired in March to conduct a feasibility study to help the towns decide where a new consolidated emergency dispatch center should go. The state’s amended Emergency Telephone Safety Act, signed into law a year ago, required all consolidation plans to be submitted by this month, and the new facilities will open by July of next year.
The law requires small towns in Cook County to merge their 911 dispatch operations with other nearby towns by reopening one joint 911 communication center to serve more than one town.
None from Harwood Heights’ team of eight dispatchers have quit since the consolidation was announced, according to Police Chief Frank Biagi, who said he was pleased Harwood Heights was recommended as the location for the new center.
“At this point, it was only recommended by our consultant that the Harwood Heights communications room would be the best place for the new dispatch center, so no final decisions have been made yet,” Biagi said. “We are very excited about being chosen as the host location, but this still needs to be discussed and approved by all of the village officials in Harwood Heights, Norridge and Schiller Park.”
Schiller Park Fire Chief Pete Chiodo wasn’t available for comment, and it was unclear whether any of the 10 dispatchers who work for the community had quit since the consolidation was announced.
New Lenox Fire District news
Jul 23
Excerpts from the HeraldNews.com:
The New Lenox Fire Protection District recently held a swearing-in ceremony during a Board of Trustees meeting to officially hire firefighter/paramedics as district employees.
Zach Cook and Joseph Schwinger were hired as a district firefighter/paramedics. Cook has been a firefighter with New Lenox for two and a half years and a firefighter for six years. Schwinger has been in the fire service for three years.
The fire district also welcomed New Lenox resident Kevin Kolosh as a commissioner, replacing Anne Mathews, who recently retired. Kolosh is the commander of detectives for the Calumet City Police Department.
In June, the NLFPD announced these recognition awards:
• Lt. Eric Chellios was the 2015 Officer of the Year. He has worked with the New Lenox Fire District since March 2008.
• Brent Havener was given the honor of Firefighter of the Year. He has been a firefighter with New Lenox for nine years.
• Candidate of the Year went to Brandon Toth, who had worked his way through the district’s cadet program and began his service as a firefighter for New Lenox a year ago.
This is from Congressman Dan Lipinski’s Facebook page:
Thursday afternoon, I was proud to present Stickney Mayor Morelli and the Stickney Fire Department with a grant check for the purchase of protective fire equipment. The $151,715 grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Program will be used to help purchase 24 new self-contained breathing apparatus devices and 30 additional face pieces.
From Congressman Dan Lipinski’s Facebook page
thanks Josh
As seen around … O’Hare
Jul 23
This from Larry Shapiro:
Passing through O’Hare the other morning, the sun was perfect for photos on the apron of Rescue 3 and I was able to get shots of most of the apparatus there.
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Naperville is the first municipality in Illinois to begin using a smart phone app that will allow people who have CPR and AED certification to respond to cardiac emergencies in public places, Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said.
The PulsePoint Respond app informs users of emergency situations within a 12-block radius of their current location in the hope that volunteer help might arrive to provide assistance in those dire minutes before firefighters or EMTs can make it to a location.
As a bonus, the app also provides users with the dates, times, locations and natures of all of the department’s emergency calls as they are received in much the same way radio scanners once allowed citizens to monitor police and fire emergency situations.
Naperville paramedics since January have been sent out on 70 CPR-related calls and 120 other situations in which someone was not breathing.
Puknaitis said more than half of U.S. citizens know how to perform CPR or use an AED. Local residents with such knowledge and training can step in and help during the estimated six minutes firefighters and paramedics typically have to spend on the road en route to a 911 call.
The app also shows people where they can find the 100-plus publicly accessible defibrillators in Naperville’s municipal buildings, parks, schools, churches, hotels, and banks. For those unsure of how to use an AED, step-by-step instructions are provided.
While the app does not display addresses of private homes where someone might be having a medical emergency, precise addresses are provided where someone is in need of medical assistance in a public place.
Firefighters already have done dry runs and performed tests to ensure the app’s viability. An estimated 547 people in the Naperville area are already using the app, including city employees and others who discovered its availability on their own.
Puknaitis praised fire department Division Chief Andy Dina, who found the service and worked for about a year with the city’s IT department to have the program implemented and made available to the public.
The app and information about the program can be found by linking to the city’s website at naperville.il.us/pulsepoint.
Chicago Fire Department news
Jul 22
Excerpts from dnainfo.com:
The Chicago City Council did away with charging a fee to take the police or fire department entrance exams Wednesday, over the objections of an alderman known as a police and fire advocate. In a bid to encourage diversity, aldermen dropped a $30 fee charged to take either the police or fire entry exam.
“I have a real problem with this ordinance,” said Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th), a former firefighter. Sposato said “$30 really means nothing these days … I always thought it should at least be $50,” to reflect both the public stature and the well-paying nature of the jobs.
Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40th), chairman of the Workforce Development Committee that passed the ordinance, pointed to how 5,437 potential applicants initially signed up online to take the most recent police department entry exam in May only to not follow through with making a payment to take the test.
O’Connor said the reform would be felt in the African-American and Hispanic communities, and the departments would benefit from a more diverse pool of applicants.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Tinley Park has hired an executive search firm to find a replacement for former Fire Chief Ken Dunn, who retired at the end of June.
Trustees approved paying a firm $20,500 to conduct the search, which will include candidates from both within and outside the fire department.
Giving what is almost a guarantee to the village, the company said that if the chief selected as a result of the firm’s search were to leave the village for whatever reason during the first two years of his or her employment, the company would conduct a new search for the village and not charge a fee for the work, other than seeking reimbursement for expenses.
Mayor Dave Seaman said the village does not have a real set time frame for selecting a chief, and that speed isn’t a factor, so much as getting the right person in there. He expects the company would ultimately identify perhaps three or four top candidates for village officials to consider.
Daniel Riordan, the department’s deputy chief of fire prevention, was named interim fire chief last month, and although his term runs through the end of September, it could be extended by the village board if needed.
As seen around … O’Hare
Jul 22
This from Josh Boyajian:
I had a great opportunity yesterday and got pictures of the (2) new ARFF crash trucks at O’Hare Airport. They are the new generation 2016 Oshkosh Strikers assigned to units 6-5-4 and 6-5-8. Enjoy
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Plane crash in Plainfield
Jul 21
From the Joliet Fire Department Facebook page:
**AIRPLANE CRASH/STRUCTURE FIRE**
-Station 9’s run area
-Box alarm
-Engine 10
-Engine 8
-Engine 7
-Engine 5
-Quint 9
-Ambulance 8
-Ambulance 9
-Ambulance 7-Airplane crash (unknown size) into a house. Hampton St and Bedford St
-Units currently working and unknown injuries.
-More details to come when available
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Joliet Fire Department Facebook page
Excerpts from NBCChicago.com:
A pilot was killed when a small plane crashed in a southwest Chicago suburb Thursday morning, burning a home in the residential area, according to authorities.
The Joliet Police Department said the plane crashed in the 1800 block of Hampton Court near Chestnut Hill Road and Bedford Drive in Plainfield around 11:15 a.m.
No one was inside the home at the time of the crash and the Federal Aviation Administration said there were no injuries on the ground. It remained unclear how many people were inside the plane, but the city manager for Joliet, said the pilot was killed.
Footage of the scene showed the house badly burned on one side with debris scattered across the street. Officials said they believe fuel from the plane sparked the fire, but an investigation remained ongoing.
