Archive for August 10th, 2019

Kankakee Fire Department news

Excerpts from the daily-journal.com:

The Kankakee Fire Department has received the highest rating for a fire department, placing it among a group of just two dozen departments statewide. Other towns with the highest rating are typically much bigger cities or wealthy suburbs, including Chicago, Naperville, Plainfield, Springfield, Champaign, Skokie, Tinley Park, and Batavia.

The Insurance Services Office rates each department on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being best. The rating is based on factors such as water supply, emergency communications, creation of plans to fight fires in specific buildings, hose testing and response times, among other things. Historically, Kankakee has been rated at 3 or 4, but five years ago, the number improved to a 2, and now, it’s a 1.

By comparison, Bourbonnais and Manteno are 3s, and Bradley is a 4. It’s harder for smaller fire districts to get a 1 or a 2 because they take in rural areas where it’s harder to respond as quickly to fires. In Manteno, the fire rating improved to 3, from 5, a couple years ago in the rural areas outside village limits but within five miles of a fire station.

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Des Plaines Fire Department news (more)

Excerpts from the randolphheraldtribune.com:

Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner will take the position of director of public safety when Fire Chief Alan Wax retires on Oct. 18. Kushner will oversee operations of both the police and fire departments during the search for a new fire chief.

Kushner’s salary will increase 5% while he serves as director of public safety, then return to its current level of about $160,000 once a full-time fire chief is in place. The city manager estimates the process to hire a new fire chief will take 6-8 months. In the meantime, he plans to contract recruiters to create and distribute ads to attract candidates. Despite acknowledging that having a permanent public safety director overseeing both departments would save money, he said it’s better to have separate chiefs leading each agency.

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Interdivisional box alarm in Union Hill, IL – 8-9-19 (more)

More photos from Tim Olk of the Interdivisional box alarm in Union Hill, IL – 8-9-19

fire department tanker

Tim Olk photo

fire department tanker

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Firefighters at fire scene

Tim Olk photo

Firefighters with hose line

Tim Olk photo

fire department tanker

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fire department tanker

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Interdivisional box alarm in Union Hill, IL – 8-9-19

Excerpts from the daily-journal.com:

Fire swept through Vanfab Inc., destroying the 7,000-square-foot metal fabricating production facility and offices on Friday afternoon. On the southwest corner of the block long facility was the original 3,000-square-foot stone building erected in 1896. That original building also housed the town’s U.S. Post Office for the town of about 60 residents.

Firefighters from more than 20 departments fought the fire. It was the biggest fire in the western part of Kankakee County in the past 20 years. All 32 employees at work when the fire broke out at about 1:10 p.m. were evacuated.

A spark from a crane was what started the fire.

Herscher Assistant Fire Chief Corey Eich, the incident commander, said no firefighters were injured, but within a few minutes of firefighters arriving, the building was totally involved. Firefighters cooled two 1,000 gallon tanks containing liquid nitrogen on the east side of the facility.

fire department tanker

Tim Olk photo

fire department tanker

Tim Olk photo

fire department tankers

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fire department engine

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fire department tanker

Tim Olk photo

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from fire

Tim Olk photo

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