Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Fire protection and emergency services for residents of the Rockland Fire Protection District are now officially the responsibility of Lake Forest and Libertyville, following a failed attempt by supporters of the Knollwood Fire Department to prevent the new agreement from going into effect.
Earlier this month, the towns of Lake Forest and Libertyville began providing the fire and emergency services to residents of RFPD through an intergovernmental agreement with the district and the municipalities and the Libertyville Fire Protection District. Previously, the residents of RFPD, which includes the unincorporated area of Knollwood and the Sanctuary housing complex in Lake Bluff, received those services from the Knollwood Fire Department. Under the new arrangement, Libertyville will oversee the northern half of the RFPD, Lake Forest the southern half.
On Sept. 27, the Friends of Knollwood Fire Department filed a temporary restraining order in Lake County Circuit Court, hoping to stop the intergovernmental agreement from going into effect, however Judge Margaret Marcouiller denied the temporary restraining order, stating there was no likelihood of success on the merits. On Oct. 11, the case was continued to Thursday.
For now, the Knollwood Fire Department has stopped operations. In the first week of the new arrangement, Lake Forest Fire Chief Peter Siebert reported one call came in from the RFPD and Libertyville Fire Chief Rich Carani said they had two.
Lake Forest anticipates responding to about 120 calls per year from the RFPD, and Libertyville is expecting approximately the same amount.
