Knollwood Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Trustees from the Rockland Fire Protection Board – which oversees the Knollwood Fire Department – met with Libertyville officials to hear a proposal from the department about taking over firefighting services, according to Libertyville Fire Chief Rich Carani. The Libertyville Fire Department has provided ambulance service to Knollwood for the last two years.

The proposal will likely be discussed at the Jan. 9 meeting of the Rockland Fire Protection District board scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Knollwood Fire Station, 14 Skokie Highway, Lake Bluff.

The department covers the Knollwood area of unincorporated Lake County and the Sanctuary subdivision on the western edge of Lake Bluff.

Costs have increased in recent years primarily for two reasons. Previously, firefighters were paid strictly for calls. Several years ago there was a shift to make sure there are at least three people in the station at all times and the district started offering $85 for working a 12-hour shift.

The cost of ambulance services previously subcontracted to the Lake Forest Fire Department had increased over the years to about $1,800 per call, with Lake Forest handling about 100 to 120 calls a year. Libertyville took over ambulance services at a cost of about $1,000 a call.

“Our tax levy is more than adequate to pay for all the services we use,” Karl Snoblin, president of the Rockland Fire Protection Board of Trustees said. “We don’t have a looming pension problem or anticipate any large expenses. We’re looking down the road. At some point the volunteer fire department might not work for us.”

If trustees approved contracting out firefighting to Libertyville, the likely outcome would be dissolving the Knollwood Fire Department.

“We would close the fire station, disband the fire department and sell the equipment,” Snoblin said. “The district would be a paper district at that point.”

The proposal by Libertyville comes at a time of increasing costs for many North Shore fire departments. The city of Lake Forest is dealing with growing firefighter pension payments and recently began discussion with neighboring municipalities on some form of shared services.

This entry was posted on January 10, 2017, 11:00 AM and is filed under Fire Department News. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.