Archive for July 20th, 2019

Dixon Fire Department news

Excerpts from saukvalley.com:

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Tinley Park Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Tinley Park trustees have approved a new pay plan for village firefighters, revamping a salary system that had been proposed this spring. For the largely part-time force, the five-step plan would offer 2% pay hikes for each step starting with fiscal year 2021. The original plan considered earlier this year proposed a 10-step plan that raised concerns over its costs. The new pay plan is intended to help Tinley Park stay competitive as far as retaining and attracting firefighters. With an eye toward the village’s fire department ultimately providing paramedic services, the plan offers pay incentives for firefighters who receive certification as emergency medical technicians. Tinley Park now uses Kurtz Ambulance for paramedic services.

The salary schedule approved by the Village Board Tuesday is estimated to cost the village $3.15 million over 10 years compared with the estimated $4.4 million cost of the original plan.

Firefighters have limited opportunities for pay hikes, which the new plan is intended to correct. Right now, personnel see pay increases once they complete their one-year probationary period or upon promotion, or through village board action in approving annual market wage adjustments.

For the current fiscal year, which began May 1, firefighters received cost-of-living increases of 2.5%. The fire chief, deputy chief, and assistant chiefs would see pay raises based on merit, according to the plan. Certified probationary firefighters would be eligible, based on performance, for a pay bump after 60 days, going from $15.70 an hour to $18.76. Fire department staff, excluding assistant chief and deputy chief positions, with more than 20 years of service would automatically move up one pay step once the plan is implemented.

In the first three to four years of the pay plan, savings from not relying on Kurtz for emergency medical dispatch are expected to free up funds to pay for raises. Down the road, the village may have to consider raising ambulance fees to support the pay plan.

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Melrose Park Fire Department news more)

Excerpts from the cookcountyrecord.com:

A former Melrose Park firefighter has lost his appeal to overturn the decision to terminate his employment for his failure to abide by residency requirements. 

John Cannici argued that he maintained a home in Melrose Park and, therefore, satisfied the requirements under the municipal code that certain employees must live within the boundaries.  In his testimony, he admitted to renting out the house in Melrose Park and lived full time with his family in Orland Park during the three years in question.

Nevertheless, the former firefighter argued that he used the Norwood Street house in Melrose Park as his mailing address, as it was where he would call to pick up bills, bank statements, and his voter registration documents. This argument was rejected by Melrose Park’s board of fire and police commissioners, as well as by Cook County Judge Neil H. Cohen and by a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court. 

Cannici sued the Village of Melrose Park, the board, two of its commissioners, Fire Chief Richard Beltrane, and Mayor Ronald Serpico. He requested that the appeals court overturn the board’s decision, order his reinstatement with back pay, and award him attorney fees, all of which were rejected.

In an opinion written by Justice Cynthia Cobbs, with justices James Fitzgerald Smith and David Ellis concurring, the court found in favor of the board that “cause existed for Cannici’s termination where he admitted that he did not live at the Norwood house for this period of three years.”

The board ruled that “[t]he residency ordinance is not satisfied by virtue of ownership of the property” where “ownership of the property is not required by the ordinance at all.”

In the opinioin, Cobbs wrote: “The Melrose Park ordinance clearly defines resident and residence, and it requires its employees to maintain their status as residents during their employment.” She further stated that the court, in its reasoning, was not going to apply tests in previous residency cases that “conflict with the clearly expressed legislative intent” of the municipality.

“We find that the board properly interpreted and applied the village ordinance and correctly found Cannici in violation of the ordinance due to the three-year period he did not live in his Norwood house during his employment as a village firefighter,” Cobbs wrote.

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House fire in Niles, 7-18-19

Excerpts from the Journal-Topics.com:

Niles firefighters suspect a lightning strike as the cause of a fire in a home in the 8300 block of Ballard Road Thursday morning (July 18). Residents in the home heard a loud bang, followed by lights flickering. The lightning strike ignited the fire in a small void space between the home’s vaulted ceilings and the roof itself. Firefighters used pike poles to pull down sections of ceiling to expose and extinguish the flames. 

All residents evacuated safely, there were no injuries, and the fire was extinguished within about 20 minutes.

Pierce Dash CF PUC tower ladder

Steve Redick photo

Pierce Arrow XT tower ladder

Steve Redick photo

Niles FD Firefighter James Leibach

Steve Redick photo

house fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Pierce Dash CF PUC fire trucks

Steve Redick photo

Smeal quint

Steve Redick photo

roof ladder on house after a fire

Steve Redick photo

Pierce Dash CF PUC fire engine

Steve Redick photo

Pierce Dash CF PUC tower ladder

Steve Redick photo

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