Archive for May 21st, 2018

Mount Prospect Fire Department news (more)

May 21

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, FIre Stations | Comments off

Barring any unforeseen obstacle, Mount Prospect will be moving its downtown fire station to the north side of the village. With one dissenting vote, trustees agreed to pay about $1.48 million for a building at 111 E. Rand Road. The building will be remodeled and replace the current fire station and headquarters at 112 E. Northwest Highway.

The village now has a 60-day due diligence period to review the property’s environmental suitability and structural condition.

Officials say the new location will mean significant improvements to response times in areas where the fire department has struggled to achieve its four-minute objective. An independent study by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association indicated there would be major improvement in areas that include Prospect High School, Randhurst Village, the Boxwood neighborhood and the Kensington Business Center.

Buying an existing building and remodeling it will save the village as much as $3.7 million compared to building a new fire station from the ground up, officials say.

thanks Dan

Tags: chicagoareafire.com, Mount Prospect considers moving fire station, Mount Prospect FIre Department, new station in Mount Prospect should improve response times

Milwaukee Fire Department news

May 21

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 9 Comments

Excerpts from Fox6now.com:

With his crews stretched by major fires this week, Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing says he’s recommending deeper cuts to the department’s 2019 budget.

Rohlfing told the Common Council’s Public Safety committee that he’s preparing to eliminate one engine and the 15 positions that go with it. The department must find at least $1.1 million in savings. The proposed cuts for 2019 come on top of reductions in previous years, including the closing of six firehouses since last year. The head of the firefighters union said the closures were hurting response times.

Rohlfing responded to firefighters’ union president Mike Bongiorno, who said in two recent apartment fires, the Milwaukee Fire Department fell short of a national standard for response times. In one case, an apartment fire near North 39th and West Hopkins streets, witnesses said tenants had to jump from the building to escape the smoke and flames. The department had 21 people on scene eight minutes after the fire call, short of the national standard of 27 people, Bongiorno said.

Rohlfing said that Milwaukee doesn’t have a problem with response times, despite station closures and personnel cuts. His budget proposal will be reviewed over the coming months before it goes to the Milwaukee Common Council in the fall. At the end of Thursday’s committee meeting, city budget director Dennis Yaccarino said there would also be cuts to the Milwaukee Police Department.

thanks Dan

Tags: Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing, Milwaukee Fire Department, Milwaukee Fire Department cuts

Wheaton Fire Department news

May 21

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, New Apparatus Order | 7 Comments

Excerpts from source unknown:

Based upon the feedback from the city council after the July 2017 presentation, the fire department began researching available stock units within the fire apparatus industry. Manufacturers were requested to provide information on available units that had base capabilities like our existing vehicle (i.e. 300-gallon water tank, 2000 gpm pump, 100 ft. tower ladder, minimum ground ladder storage of 198 ft., 10 kW generator, and compartments configured closely to the existing vehicle to accommodate current equipment).

Six manufacturers that commonly sell aerial tower ladders were contacted and only two manufacturers responded with available vehicles. Several manufacturers made no effort to respond after multiple inquiries on our behalf and others indicated that they had no stock units available. The two responding companies with available units that meet or exceed our base needs were Pierce and E-One. The following are the vehicles that were quoted:

E-One provided two vehicles (Vehicle #1 – Sales price: $1,096,064.00 and Vehicle #2 – Sales price: $1,022,282.00) with a quoted trade-in value for our current vehicle of $225,000.00.

Pierce provided one vehicle (Sales price: $1,190,100.00) with a quoted trade-in value for our current vehicle of $400,000.00.

Based upon the information jointly reviewed by fire department administration and Fleet Maintenance Superintendent Sam Webb, it is recommended that the City of Wheaton purchase the stock tower ladder quoted by Pierce for $1,190,100.00 and trade-in the existing vehicle for $400,000.00 which would result in a net sales price of $790,100.00. The quoted vehicle is closely matched in design to our current vehicle and it will directly meet our operational needs. The delivery date is 60-90 days from execution of the agreement.

thanks Ron