Excerpts from the KaneCountyChronicle.com:
After a nationwide search that began with 49 applicants, Joseph MCluchey was the Elburn & Countryside Fire Protection District’s top choice and was sworn in as the new chief Nov. 14.
Having previously worked his way up through the ranks to become the chief of the South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection District, Cluchey has the experience and background that Elburn was looking for in a new leader.
He started out with South Elgin as a paid-on-call firefighter and worked as a contract paramedic for a time before becoming a career firefighter. He then worked his way up through the ranks to become chief for the district. He served as chief for 12 years before suffering an injury from a roof collapse that caused him to retire from South Elgin in 2014 and take on a leadership role as the statewide operations chief for the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System [MABAS].
He looks forward to the challenge of bringing seven communities together and will bring to bear his experience with the communities surrounding South Elgin to Elburn – Campton Hills, Virgil, Lily Lake and the other communities represented in the new district.
He also looks forward to working with the well-rounded and capable members of his new department, he said. He perceives they have what he believes is the best background there is for the job – the desire to help their community.
He sees the district as having a good foundation, and he will work at keeping it at the front edge of change, he said, calling fire service the best team sport ever, with consequences if we lose.
