Archive for September 2nd, 2020

Box Alarm fire in Mundelein, 9-2-20

Mundelein firefighters were dispatched for a commercial building fire on Wednesday afternoon at 839 S. Lake Street. The first arriving units had light smoke from the roof of a strip mall with a hze in the restaurant. The building was evacuated and the fire intensified. The alarm was upgraded to a Box Alarm for additional resources. Fire burned through the roof and the front overhang with signage eventually collapsed. The fire was held to one unit with damage to the restaurant next door. A ladder pipe was used for a short time after companies withdrew from the building.

Companies on the scene were from Mundelein, Countryside, Deerfield-Bannockburn, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Libertyville, Wauconda, Lake Forest, Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Arlington Heights, and Lake Zurich.

fire destroys a Mundelein restaurant

DBFD photo

fire destroys a Mundelein restaurant

DBFD photo

fire destroys a Mundelein restaurant

DBFD photo

fire destroys a Mundelein restaurant

DBFD photo

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Brookfield Fire Department news

Excerpts from rblandmark.com:

The Village of Brookfield is hoping it will be able to boost the revenue it collects from ambulance/paramedic fees by about 44 percent annually through a federal program now available to Illinois municipalities via legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2019.

Fire Chief Jim Adams on Aug. 24 asked village trustees to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to allow Brookfield to participate in the Ground Emergency Medical Transportation (GEMT) program beginning in 2021.

GEMT is a federally funded Medicaid program that has been around for years, but was introduced to Illinois via legislation last year. The program allows municipalities an opportunity to collect an additional Medicaid reimbursement for ambulance services, above and beyond what the state reimburses the village for Medicaid claims.

Anytime Brookfield paramedics transport a patient to the hospital via ambulance, the department bills for either Advance Life Support ($1,400) or Basic Life Support ($1,000).  For Medicaid patients, the village submits a claim to the state program, which reimburses the village about $142 per claim for Basic Life Support and about $222 for Advanced Life Support. In the past, there was no other way to recoup any more fees from Medicaid patients. The GEMT program will allow the village to submit the balance of the bill – for an Advanced Life Support Call that would amount to about $1,777.

The village and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services will split that balance, meaning for a Medicaid patient receiving Advanced Life Support services, the village will collect about $589 in additional Medicaid reimbursement, or about $429 for Basic Life Support. The village also collects revenue for ambulance services through private insurers and Medicare. Annually, in recent years, the village has collected between $375,000 and about $480,000 in total ambulance fees.

According to Adams, by participating in the GEMT program, Brookfield can expect to generate an additional $175,000 annually in ambulance fee revenue.

Village trustees are expected to approve the intergovernmental agreement to participate in the GEMT program at their Sept. 14 meeting.

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Peoria Fire Department news

Excerpts from peoriapublicradio.org:

One week after voting down a plan to borrow $10 million and decommission two fire engines to balance Peoria’s budget, a divided city council has approved the proposal. The city staff’s recommended budget restructuring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic passed on a 6-5 count. Four council members remained opposed to the fire cuts. One said the cuts will damage Peoria’s ability to provide the safety a city of its size requires.

The engines slated to be cut are Engine 4 from the south side’s Jefferson station and Engine 20 on Wilhelm in the far north area of the city. Along with the engine cuts, 17 firefighter positions will be eliminated, however five firefighters accepting the voluntary separation incentive passed last week could reduce the number of layoffs.

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New aerials for Chicago (more)

More new aerials for Chicago:

New Truck 29 FDE-367

New E-ONE aerial ladder truck assigned to Chicago FD Truck 4

thanks Danny

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