Archive for January 14th, 2019

Harvard Fire Protection District news (more)

Excerpts from the NorthwestHerald.com:

A request for police presence at Harvard Fire Protection District board meetings after a trustee’s concerns that a meeting attendee posed a threat was turned down, Harvard Police Chief Mark Krause said.

In November, Harvard Fire Chief Steve Harter and Deputy Chief Don Davidson were suspended for 36 hours based on a letter they sent to board President Thomas Condon in June calling the conduct of Trustee Joe Clarke unprofessional and hostile.

During December’s board meeting, former Harvard Firefighter Don Carlson said he was extremely disappointed in the board, particularly Clarke, whose bullying is destroying the reputation and confidence in the fire protection district chiefs and staff.

Several fire chiefs, including Marengo Chief Bob Bradbury and Woodstock Chief Michael Hill, also spoke during the meeting in defense of Harter’s and Davidson’s character and service.

In a memo dated Jan. 2 to McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks, Krause and attorney David McArdle, Clarke wrote that Carlson has distorted the facts, forced his son to resign from the district and has reviewed personnel files from his 31 years of service with the village of Arlington Heights.

“Mr. Carlson’s actions have gone far beyond what a rational citizen would do in questioning a public official,” Clarke wrote in the memo.

In conclusion, Clarke said in the letter that he believes Carlson carries a concealed firearm during meetings and that he poses a threat of “going postal.” Therefore, he recommended board president Thomas Condon formally request the assistance of the Harvard Police Department in maintaining order and security at meetings.

“A uniformed police officer is better suited to silence and remove Mr. Carlson from the meeting room should he have another outburst of behavior,” Clarke wrote.

Krause said he and Condon reviewed the memo and agreed the fire protection district is not interested in having a law enforcement presence at meetings.

Carlson said in an email to the Northwest Herald that he was surprised and appalled to be accused of being a threat, and his attendance at meetings was to express his feelings about a trustee he feels is a bully.

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Naperville Fire Department news

Excerpts from fox32chicago.com:

An 11-year-old boy was rescued by Naperville firefighters and police officers after he fell through the ice of an artificial lake Sunday afternoon. At 4:49 p.m., dispatchers got a call from someone who saw a child slipping into the water of a frozen retention pond near an apartment complex in the 1300 block of McDowell Road. The 11-year-old was in the center of the mostly ice-covered pond and told rescuers that his feet were trapped in the mud at the bottom.

Surface Ice Rescue Incident – 1300 Block of McDowell Road, Naperville, Illinois. Naperville Fire and Police Department Personnel responded to the report of an 11-year-old child who had fallen through the ice on a local retention pond. Fire and Police personnel  worked together to successfully rescue the child from the ice as seen in the video.

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Calumet Park Fire Department news (more)

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Less than two months after outsourcing its fire department to Kurtz Paramedic Service, Calumet Park Fire Chief Howard Fisher, who had served as chief since 2014, was let go earlier this month in what the mayor said was primarily a cost-cutting move. He’s hoping to find a replacement for Fisher — who made $82,126 last year — within the next few weeks. The mayor said he doesn’t expect the transition from a full-time chief to a part-timer working about 30 hours a week will have any impact on the department’s operations.

“I wanted a part-time (chief),” he said. “Since Kurtz was going to have their own staff and everything, I didn’t see the need to be paying $80,000-$90,000 for a full-time fire chief when I was gonna also have to be paying for an administrative person that was going to be there administering all the paperwork of that.”

Nicless Malley, a former village firefighter who now works for Kurtz, will serve as Calumet Park’s acting chief until a permanent replacement is found. Once the new fire chief is appointed, he or she and an existing fire office clerk will be the department’s only public employees, at a combined cost of between $80,000 and $90,000 without benefits. Kurtz employs the department’s 12 full-time firefighters, four of whom previously worked part-time for Calumet Park.

The details of Fisher’s separation agreement are still being worked out, but the mayor said he anticipates paying the former chief until Jan. 15, and compensating him for his approximately 40 accumulated sick days and two weeks of vacation. 

Kurtz assumed control of Calumet Park’s fire department on Dec. 1, a few weeks after the village board approved a separation agreement with its firefighters union and signed a five-year contract with the private company to provide fire suppression and ambulance services.

Calumet Park will pay Kurtz a maximum of $829,380 in the first year of the contract, with progressive increases each year up to a maximum of $947,392 in the final year of the deal. The price tag does not include the salary of the fire chief and fire office clerk, and costs for building and apparatus maintenance and utilities, but is still expected to produce a significant savings for cash-strapped Calumet Park, officials have said.

The mayor said that he’d had discussions with officials from multiple south suburban towns about parlaying his deal with Kurtz into shared services agreements for fire suppression and ambulance services in their communities. He’s still evaluating whether such a shared services agreement with another municipality would make financial sense for Calumet Park, but that he expects to make a decision one way or another later this year.

“(Some towns) want me to completely take over their fire department,” he said. “If I wanted to do it today, I could sign them up today.”

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New engine for Carol Stream (more)

Updated production photos of the new engine for the Carol Stream Fire District being built by Alexis

Carol Stream Fire District Squad 27

Alexis Fire Equipment photo

Carol Stream Fire District Squad 27

Alexis Fire Equipment photo

Carol Stream Fire District Squad 27

Alexis Fire Equipment photo

Carol Stream Fire District Squad 27

Alexis Fire Equipment photo

Carol Stream Fire District Squad 27

Alexis Fire Equipment photo

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