Archive for July 15th, 2018

Cancer in the fire service

Excerpts from nj.com:

President Donald Trump on Monday signed legislation to set up a national registry for firefighters to help track links between exposure to fumes and cancer. The Firefighter Cancer Registry Act requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to set up a database in order to study possible links between cancer and the fumes and toxins firefighters are exposed to. The idea is use the information to develop better equipment and other techniques to protect firefighters from cancer-causing chemicals.

The lawmakers cited a 2015 study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that found that a greater incidence of certain cancers among firefighters compared with the general population.

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As seen around … Champaign

Photos from Steve Redick:

Kirsch antique fire engine

Steve Redick photo

Champaign FD Engine 151

Steve Redick photo

Champaign FD Engine 1513

Steve Redick photo

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Wheaton Fire Department news

Excerpts from mysuburbanlife.com:

At their July 2 meeting, Wheaton City Council members unanimously approved a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Wheaton Firefighters Union 3706. The contract covers Wheaton firefighters and fire lieutenants who will receive a 2.5-percent cost-of-living adjustment this year and 2.25 percent in both 2019 and 2020.

The new contract, which will be in effect until April 30, 2021, is retroactive to May 1. The union ratified the agreement June 14. The previous contract expired April 30. Firefighters will now be able to donate sick time to a fellow employee, as long as all eligibility requirements from the city employee manual are followed.

In addition, the maximum number of compensatory time hours that can be accumulated increased to 97 in the new contract, up from 73. Members of the collective bargaining unit can request a payout of their unused compensatory time for special circumstances one time per year. The payout must first be approved by the fire chief.

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Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District news

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

A Kane County judge has ordered a do-over for the Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District referendum for Nov. 6 because the early voting and election day ballots in the spring were incomplete.

The rescue district’s tax increase question was rejected by 32 votes in the March 20 primary election, but Ken Shepro and other residents filed a lawsuit arguing the Kane County clerk failed to include a sentence on the ballot explaining what the tax increase would cost homeowners. That sentence is required by state law for tax increase questions and the clerk’s office failed to fix the problem after being notified, the suit says. In this case, it should have informed voters their taxes would increase $53 a year for every $100,000 in equalized assessed value of a home.

According to the lawsuit, Kane County Clerk John Cunningham was informed during early voting that the ballot question was incomplete. The remedy was to have election judges hand applicable voters a slip of paper explaining the tax increase’s effect for each $100,000 value of a home. Some voters got the slips but many did not.

Fire officials have said the tax increase was needed to avoid closing one of the district’s two fire stations every other day. Since the ballot effort failed, officials have cut several firefighters.

thanks Dennis

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