Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Lake Zurich FD Lt. Rick Johnson was officially promoted to deputy fire chief during Monday night’s Lake Zurich village board meeting, and firefighter-paramedic Jeff Ritchie was promoted to lieutenant.
Johnson’s promotion to deputy chief comes 27 years after he started in Lake Zurich. A 22-year lieutenant, he came to the village after playing baseball for the White Sox organization in 1983 and 1984 and was one of 10 firefighters who were the first to be hired full time in 1989.
Johnson has a bachelor’s degree in fire service management from Southern Illinois University. He’s on track to complete a master’s degree in public safety and Homeland Security management from SIU in April, followed by postgraduate studies through Johns Hopkins University starting in January 2017.
Ritchie joined the department in January 1997 and has been active in fire department public education programs.
