This from the Fire Service, Inc. Facebook page:
Congratulations and thank you to Chief Swanson and the Board of Trustees of the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District on the purchase of 2 Wheeled Coach Type 1 F-450 4×4 ambulances.
Posts Tagged Barrington Countryside Fire Protection
Barrington Countryside FPD orders ambulances
Oct 2
Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off
Barrington Countryside FPD signs staffing agreement
Sep 9
Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | 7 Comments
From the Barrington Countryside FPD website:
Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District Trustees formally signed an agreement with Schiller Park-based Paramedic Services of Illinois (PSI) to provide the District with 33 full-time firefighter/paramedics when it begins independent operations on January 1, 2014.
The contract’s signing at a September 5 special meeting allows Fire Chief/Administrator Jeff Swanson to begin working with PSI to fully staff the District’s Barrington Hills and Lake Barrington fire stations. Trustees also began discussions with PSI on ways to further increase staffing levels with supplemental part-time personnel.
Plans call for hiring to begin in October, with firefighter training and familiarization starting in early November. All District firefighter/paramedics will be employed by PSI but report directly to Chief Swanson.
As part of the staffing agreement, PSI will hire Barrington firefighters who wish to continue their careers with the BCFPD after they lose their jobs with the village in December.
Trustees had delayed the signing of the PSI contract because the village has not yet released the names of the firefighters who will be laid off. That makes it difficult for the District – and the affected firefighters – to plan accordingly.
“We hope the village will release those names immediately, so those firefighters have ample time to apply for positions with the District,” Chief Swanson says.
These firefighters will receive salary and paid time-off benefits that are identical to what they earned as village employees. They will also have the opportunity to become officers in the new department.
Meanwhile, BCFPD trustees received a letter of support from elected officials representing Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, South Barrington, Barrington and Cuba Townships, and Lake County – nearly every jurisdiction the District serves.
The letter applauds trustees’ decision to approve the staffing agreement with PSI, saying it “will ensure that well-qualified, experienced personnel – including those who may be separated from the village of Barrington as part of its reduction in force – will be available to serve all the District’s residents.”
With the PSI agreement completed, District trustees will focus on confirming a date to divide the apparatus and equipment jointly-owned by both the District and village of Barrington. Board members may consider supplemental equipment purchases, depending on how the current equipment is divided.
Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Countryside Fire Protection, Barrington Countryside FPD Fire Chief/Administrator Jeff Swanson, Barrington FPD terminates their contract with the Village of Barrington, Barrington to lay off 19 firefighters, Paramedic Services of Illinois, staffing agreement for Barrington Countryside FPD
Barrington & Countryside FPD update
Jul 23
Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | 3 Comments
The Daily Herald has an article labeling the split between the Village of Barrington and the Barrington & Countryside FPD as a done deal:
Barrington village officials told the Daily Herald editorial board Monday that the proposed split between the Barrington Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District on Jan. 1 is now past the point of no return.
Fire district trustees entirely agree.
Barrington Village President Karen Darch and Village Manager Jeff Lawler explained why they believe the coming separation is in the best interest of both local governments.
The village will see the reduction of pension and potential disability costs for 20-22 firefighters used exclusively by the fire district, which is currently pursuing an expansion of services for its own 48-square-mile area.
Since about the 1950s, the fire district has contracted for services from the geographically smaller village — but the mutual benefits of that arrangement have been gradually disappearing for both agencies, Darch argued.
Firefighters, though, have strongly disagreed throughout the separation process, maintaining that public safety will be hurt by the loss of efficiency brought by one united department.
Fire district President Tom Rowan said he and his fellow trustees want to save as many firefighter jobs as possible by encouraging their re-employment through the district’s new private contractor — Schiller Park-based Paramedic Services of Illinois.
The hiring of that contractor and new administrator Jeff Swanson last week make going back to the old arrangement with Barrington virtually impossible, Rowan said.
“We hired our new fire chief/administrator and he has a three-year contract,” Rowan said. “We are going to separate (from the village). We don’t see reconciling at this point.”
The village wants to sign an automatic-aid agreement with the district, but district trustees want to hold off until the village decides on Aug. 19 whether it will employee a staff of 16 or 18 people.
District trustees said they want to make sure any agreement they sign with a neighboring department is mutually beneficial.
Rowan said he’s also eager to work out the division of the equipment both agencies co-own well ahead of New Year’s Day when the fire engines, tankers and ambulances will physically change hands and fire stations.
The district covers parts of Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, South Barrington, Inverness and unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.
A previous post on this can be found HERE.
Tags: Barrington Countryside Fire Protection, Barrington Fire Department, Barrington Fire Department staffing, Barrington Fire district President Tom Rowan, Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler, Barrington Village President Karen Darch, fire district and village split in Barrington, Jeff Swanson, Schiller Park-based Paramedic Services of Illinois
