Posts Tagged Barrington Fire Department

Barrington & Countryside FPD responds to village critique

May 3

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The Barrington-Courier Review has a brief article on the relationship between the two Barrington fire department.

Despite last week’s clash between the Barrington Fire Department and Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District about the way a recent fire was handled, the two sides are still working to forge a mutual aid pact.

“Slim as it might be, it will still be an operational relationship,” Fire District Trustee Paul Heinze said Wednesday during a report to the Barrington Hills Village Board. “The essence of the difficulty is that they [Barrington Fire Department] want enormous free support from us.” Heinze noted that district’s 46-square-mile territory proves much more costly to serve than the department’s 5 square miles. He listed the costs of manpower, wear and tear on equipment, and exposure to hazardous conditions as ongoing points of contention.

“We’re interested in drafting something that is equitable and balanced,” he said.

The differing service demands were among the factors that led the agencies to split effective Jan. 1.

Heinze also provided Barrington Hills officials a report about the district’s first 100 days operating independently. Its crews responded to 398 calls during that time, including requests for 198 ambulance services and 43 vehicular accidents. The district doubled its manpower at each of its two stations and purchased a new ambulance during the first 100 days, he added. The district’s ability to get water to areas without hydrants also has improved.

“You’ll be pleased to know we have two, 3,000-gallon tenders, one at each station,” he said, adding that the district acquired a backup tanker.

While there is no aid agreement in place, the two entities remain on the same box alarm system. District crews will be dispatched to serious emergencies in the village.

Tags: automatic aid agreements in the fire service, Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Countryside Fire Chief Jeffrey Swanson, Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie, Barrington Fire Department, Fire District Trustee Paul Heinze, mutual aid agreements between neighboring fire departments

New assistant chief for Barrington Countryside FPD

Apr 11

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The Barrington Courier Review has an article about a new assistant chief for the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District.

After serving the Barrington Fire Department for 24 years, Donald Wenschhof has been hired as the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District’s assistant chief. Wenschhof, a veteran firefighter and paramedic who joined the district last month, rose through the ranks at the village department from an on-call firefighter and paramedic to lieutenant and most recently assistant chief.

Wenschhof said he could not pass up the opportunity to help create an entirely new fire agency.

“The opportunities here for public service and professional growth far outweigh anywhere else,” said Wenschhof, who has lived in the district for 33 years. “Years from now, I want to look back and be able to say I helped build an operation that serves residents better than anything they had before.”

According to a fire district new release, Wenschhof was integral to the district board’s efforts to reduce emergency response times. In 2011, the district upgraded its alert system at its Barrington Hills and Lake Barrington fire stations. Wenschhof’s background in computer programming and system networking helped implement the new equipment online and synchronize it with emergency dispatch operations, fire district officials said.

Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Fire Department, Donald Wenschhof

Barrington Countryside FPD … begins service

Jan 15

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

The Barrington-Courier Review has an article about the launch of the new, independent Barrington Countryside FPD:

Despite many tumultuous and emotional months leading up to the village of Barrington and [Barrington] Countryside Fire Protection District’s separation, both sides reported that the first week of independent operations went smoothly.

“It’s been very cohesive,” said Scott Motisi, protection fire district battalion chief. “We put a program together that incorporated not only new members but those who came over from the village of Barrington. It’s a group mentality. Everyone has helped each other in training and sharing specialties.”

Jeff Swanson, the district’s chief and administrator, reported that the seven days were greeted by about 50 calls for service across the Countryside’s 46-square-mile area territory.

The Barrington Fire Department has responded to 29 calls within its 5-square-mile coverage area, reported Fire Chief James Arie. “It’s going great,” Arie said. “The guys have adjusted to the new arrangement. There have been no issues or hiccups.”

Even the extreme weather that started with heavy snow Jan. 4 and continued with bitter cold into Jan. 6 didn’t prove to make each side’s first week overly difficult.

The most taxing day for the Countryside Protection District was Jan. 8, when its firefighters responded to 15 calls including several about pipes bursting due to thawing. Motisi, a former lieutenant with the Barrington Fire Department, said the calls were all handled without the need for mutual aid. One of three new battalion chiefs recently hired by the district, Motisi said his agency is continuing to adapt to the dramatic change in local fire services.

The district has received new equipment including hydraulic-powered ambulance cots for transporting patients and a 3,000 gallon tanker.

October and November was dedicated to orientation, Motisi explained, and the district’s focus has since shifted to training. District firefighters have trained on breathing apparatus, reviewed response protocols, practiced for search and rescue situations, and gone over the layouts of area hospitals. And changes are still coming to the district. The firehouses are expecting delivery of new ambulances and the hiring of six additional firefighter/paramedics.

Arie said the village department’s transition has been smooth because most of its 16 firefighters are familiar with Barrington.

Serving a smaller footprint, the 16 firefighters are split over three shifts at the public safety building, with a shift commander for each. Like the district, Arie said his firefighter/paramedics are enthusiastic and prepared to serve.

Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Swanson, Barrington Fire Chief James Arie, Barrington Fire Department, Scott Motisi

Dispute arises between the Barrington FD and the Barrington Countryside FPD

Jan 5

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | 5 Comments

The Daily Herald has another article on the split between the Village of Barrington Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District.

The Barrington Fire Department and Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District went their separate ways as scheduled New Year’s Day — but not without some last-minute miscommunication. Even though the 48-square-mile fire district received 19 firefighters laid off by the village of Barrington at the stroke of midnight, those firefighters weren’t allowed to bring their individually fitted safety gear with them.

This forced the fire district to borrow gear from the Fox River Grove Fire Protection District a few days before the split, and to begin making arrangements to lease gear from elsewhere during the coming months.

Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler said the issue arose from the fact that the district didn’t hire the laid-off firefighters directly, but through the private contractor Paramedic Services of Illinois. “It is taxpayer property and we can’t just give it to someone else without the proper legal mechanism to do so,” Lawler said. He added that this issue was addressed in a conversation with fire district officials in early December and he didn’t understand how they could have overlooked it.

Barrington Countryside board President Tom Rowan said the conversation Lawler referred to is one only the village of Barrington seems to recall.

Because the fire district and village of Barrington co-owned all the equipment they shared during their decades-long contractual relationship, it was meant to be divided evenly at the end as all the vehicles were, Rowan said.

Barrington Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Swanson said that while rules should be followed, they should never get in the way of safety. While the legalistic separation of the gear could have been worked out over time, the firefighters needed to be using it on New Year’s Day, he said.

Barrington Countryside employs a total of 34 firefighters through Paramedic Services of Illinois. Only the 19 laid off from the Barrington Fire Department were affected by the dispute over the equipment. Swanson said the specially fitted equipment newly ordered for these employees isn’t expected to arrive until the spring. They will be using leased equipment in the meantime.

Apart from this issue, both agencies reported that they’ve been fulfilling all their operational responsibilities since the split. The Barrington Fire Department’s jurisdiction narrowed from covering the district as well to just the village’s five square miles.

Rowan said morale is high among the fire district’s new staff, evidenced by their cleaning all their equipment anew just after receiving it from the village of Barrington after midnight Wednesday morning.

Barrington Countryside covers parts of Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, South Barrington, Inverness and unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

On a separate note, our information about the apparatus split is as follows:

The Village of Barrington Fire Department has:

one engine
the quint
the battalion buggy
two ambulances

The Barrington Countryside FPD has:

Two engines
the squad
the tanker (in addition to a newly acquired tanker)
two ambulances

At this point in time, we are unsure of the ownership of the brush unit.

Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Countryside board President Tom Rowan, Barrington Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Swanson, Barrington Fire Department, Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler, Fox River Grove Fire Protection District, Paramedic Services of Illinois

Barrington FD & Fire District update

Dec 31

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 1 Comment

The Daily Herald has an article about the separation of the Barrington FD and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District as the split nears:

An exchange of letters between the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District and village of Barrington in late September 2012 began a 15-month process of separating their fire services that becomes real at the stroke of midnight this New Year’s Eve.

Only then will the true test of both agencies’ preparations begin, during a transitional period that will last anywhere from a minute to a year, depending who you ask. It will take a year to fully measure the finances of the fire district’s newly independent fire department, but the test of its operations should take only a few months, board President Tom Rowan said.

“To me, the measure of success is to provide even better service than we did before,” Rowan said. “That’s our goal, for people to say, ‘Wow, that’s a great operation!'” For Barrington Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Swanson, the obligation to be a great operation starts the moment his crew begins its first shift.

In addition to fire protection and ambulance service, the fire district will aim to be more community-focused — providing outreach and education through schools, churches, senior centers and other venues, Rowan said. The fire district covers 48 square miles that include parts of Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, South Barrington, Inverness and unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

The district has two fire stations, one in Barrington Hills and one in Lake Barrington. It has begun looking for a third location that will improve response times. The district has automatic-aid agreements with several neighboring departments, but Barrington is not one of them.

The two agencies will provide one another with the more standard form of mutual aid — in the case of a big fire, it’s all hands on deck — but they don’t have an auto-aid agreement that spells out the specifics of going above and beyond mutual aid.

Countryside is trying to staff itself so it can depend less on mutual aid than before, Rowan said.

Barrington, however, considers the lack of an automatic-aid agreement with its old partner to be unfinished business, Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie said. While the Barrington Fire Department is narrowing its focus to the village’s five square miles with the more experienced half of its staff, the lack of an auto-aid agreement with a neighbor ignores a basic tenet of emergency service, Arie said. “It takes some of our closest resources off the table,” he said. “That’s a change I’d prefer didn’t happen.”

The fact that fire district equipment will be passing through Barrington to reach areas of its jurisdiction flies in the face of using the closest available resources, Arie said. He just hopes it’s not at the expense of anyone’s well-being in the meantime.

The separation initially was sparked by fire district trustees’ frustration that their requests for more equipment and staff were regularly denied by Barrington officials, who ran the fire service for both jurisdictions. Now, Countryside trustees say they are satisfied with their starting staffing level. They will study whether their two water tankers are enough, since a large area of their territory is without hydrants, Rowan said.

Both Barrington and Countryside will experience a slight increase in their staffing levels relative to their jurisdiction size — Barrington to 18 firefighters and Barrington Countryside to 34.

Barrington Countryside’s staff will consist of 19 firefighters laid off by Barrington, with the rest hired from private contractor Paramedic Services of Illinois.

thanks Dan

Also, from the Barrington-Courier Review:

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District announced Friday that it will assist the village of Barrington’s Fire Department through the regional response program, but said it is no longer seeking an automatic aid pact with the village.

Reporting that negotiations are at a stalemate, district officials said they will rely on aid agreements with other neighboring agencies when independent fire operations begin Jan. 1.

“The [protection district] will gladly provide assistance to our neighbors in the village of Barrington through [the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System] whenever they need us,” District Chief Jeff Swanson said. “As we move forward, we will work with all our neighbors to continuously improve the levels of service provided to area residents and revise our current agreements when opportunities arise.”

“If Barrington needs us, all they have to do is make the call and we’ll send the cavalry,” District President Tom Rowan added. “We will provide whatever personnel and apparatus they may need that we have available.”

Starting Jan. 1, the Barrington Fire Department will serve its 5-square-mile area while the district focuses on its 46-square-mile area.

MABAS, a regional mutual aid system formed in 1968, includes more than 1,500 fire departments and districts across Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Missouri. MABAS allows firefighter/paramedics to pool resources in situations such as multiple-alarm fires or weather-related disasters that exceed the capabilities of a single department or district.

Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Countryside board President Tom Rowan, Barrington Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Swanson, Barrington Fire Chief James Arie, Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie, Barrington Fire Department, new fire department to offer service January 1

Barrington FD & Barrington CFPD still negotiating mutual aid

Dec 19

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | 4 Comments

The Barrington Courier-Review has an article with states that as the year-end separation nears, there is no mutual-aid agreement yet between the Barrington Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District.

With less than two weeks until the Village of Barrington’s Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District begin operating independently, the two sides have still been unable to come to terms on a mutual aid agreement.

The Barrington Village Board previously set a goal to have a deal in place by its Dec. 16 meeting, but the topic was not brought before trustees.

Barrington Fire Chief James Arie said the village has reached out with proposals, but has yet to receive a response from officials at the district. The agreements detail support plans that would go into effect in an emergency across jurisdictional boundaries. Meanwhile, the village has secured automatic aid agreements with neighboring departments in Lake Zurich, Long Grove and Palatine while continuing to negotiate with additional agencies in the area.

“We’ve got resources around us that are prepared to respond to our needs on a daily basis,” said Arie, adding that Barrington firefighters are eager to begin independent operations Jan. 1.

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District also moved forward with its independent fire response plan this week by finalizing an automatic aid agreement with the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District. Approved Dec. 16, officials on both sides said the agreement provides residents with high levels of fire and emergency medical services.

According to a district press release, the agreement calls for the Countryside Fire Protection District to provide a fire engine or water tanker vehicle as needed, for all structure fires in Palatine Rural’s jurisdiction. The Barrington district also will send a truck to all Palatine Rural-based calls generated by automatic fire alarm systems.

In return, Palatine Rural will provide an Advanced Life Support engine for Barrington Countryside calls that occur south of Lake-Cook Road, and will provide initial fire and paramedic response for calls on the district’s eastern edge, according to the press release.

“As we begin discussing how our respective organizations might help each other, our only consideration was to ensure that any agreement assisted in fulfilling our mission to provide excellence in service,” said District Fire Chief Jeff Swanson. “That is the benchmark of everything we do. We are very comfortable with the agreement and we will meet regularly over the next year to keep it that way.”

The agreement, which will take effect Jan. 1, was formally approved by the district’s Board of Trustees on Dec. 16. The Palatine Rural Board of Trustees is expected to approve the agreement at a special meeting later this month.

“This agreement between Palatine Rural and Barrington Countryside has taken a bit longer than expected, but it ensures that our residents will receive a premier level of fire and emergency medical service,” Palatine Rural Fire Chief Hank Clemmensen said.

The district board also approved the purchase of a new 3,000 gallon water tanker. Officials said the tanker will vastly improve the district’s ability to deliver large amounts of water to areas that do not have fire hydrants.

“We were very fortunate to find a stock unit that met our needs,” Rowan said. “It avoids us having to wait eight months for the tender to be built.” The $205,000 vehicle, which arrived at district headquarters in mid-December, was manufactured by Minnesota-based Midwest Fire Equipment firm Luverne.

Tags: automatic aid agreements between fire department, automatic-aid agreements, Barrington Countryside Fire Protection Distric, Barrington Fire Chief James Arie, Barrington Fire Department, Countryside Fire Protection District, District Fire Chief Jeff Swanson, Fire District President Tom Rowan, mutual aid agreements between neighboring fire departments, mutual aid between fire departments, Palatine Rural Fire Chief Hank Clemmensen

Barrington FD signs auto-aid agreements

Nov 12

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The Daily Herald has an article about the Barrington Fire Department signing several automatic-aid agreements with neighbors:

Barrington trustees Monday approved two of the four automatic-aid agreements they’ve had to revise with neighboring fire departments due to the village’s coming Jan. 1 split from the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District.

The new agreements reached were those with the Lake Zurich and Long Grove departments. But Barrington is also aiming to have further agreements soon with both the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District and Barrington Countryside itself.

The aid agreements spell out the locations, situations and equipment involved for one department to respond automatically to another’s call — usually driven by whose station is closest. Though the village of Barrington isn’t starting a new fire department from scratch like the Barrington Countryside District, the ending of the two agencies’ decades-long contract for service is changing the jurisdictional boundaries for both.

The fire district will now take independent responsibility for fire protection and ambulance service for parts of Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, South Barrington and Inverness and unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

On the eve of their contractual split, Barrington and Barrington Countryside have found an auto-aid agreement between themselves to be the most time-consuming to negotiate. But Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler said Monday he believes the two agencies are getting there.

In contrast, talks aimed at an auto-aid agreement for Palatine Rural to respond to calls in Barrington Countryside’s area of Inverness seem to have broken down completely.

Barrington Countryside rejected a request to give a significant portion of its property tax from Inverness to Palatine Rural, while Palatine Rural has similarly declined three counterproposals, officials said.

thanks Ron & Dan

Tags: automatic-aid agreements, Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Fire Department, fire district and village split in Barrington, fire district and village to split in Barrington

Barrington Countryside FPD updates

Nov 6

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The Daily Herald has an article updating changes to the Barrington Countryside FPD.

Less than two months before they’ll be operating independently, Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District trustees Monday [added an] automatic-aid agreement … with the Fox River Grove Fire Protection District to ones they approved two weeks ago with the fire departments of Lake Zurich and Long Grove.

Still being pursued are auto-aid agreements with the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District, East Dundee, Palatine, Carpentersville and the village of Barrington. The 48-square-mile Barrington Countryside district will stop receiving service from the Barrington Fire Department by contract on Jan. 1.

Despite a request from Inverness Village President Jack Tatooles, Barrington Countryside is no longer pursuing an auto-aid agreement with the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District to provide first response to the west side of Inverness. Barrington Countryside board President Tom Rowan said three offers for a deal were rejected by Palatine Rural, which is seeking only a significant portion of property taxes in exchange for service to that area.

Earlier Monday, Palatine Rural board President Glen Grosch said he still expected a further meeting with Barrington Countryside to discuss the possibility of a deal.

Barrington Countryside trustees Monday did authorize Fire Chief Jeff Swanson to hire three part-time assistant chiefs from private contractor Paramedic Services of Illinois, to work a combined total of no more than 48 hours a week. Swanson said these assistant chiefs, who will work full-time jobs elsewhere, will provide the next level of management in the department below himself.

Though a full-time deputy chief position is being created on paper, it will be left deliberately vacant to see if the department can get by without it, Swanson said.

thanks Dan

Tags: Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District, automatic aid agreements between fire department, Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington & Countryside FPD, Barrington Fire Department, Fire Chief Jeff Swanson, Fox River Grove Fire Protection Distric, Inverness Village President Jack Tatooles, Palatine Rural Fire Protection District, Paramedic Services of Illinois

Barrington FD & Fire Protection District update

Oct 7

Posted by Admin in Fire Service News | 1 Comment

The Daily Herald has an article about the Village of Barrington Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District dividing their assets for what will become the two separate departments after the 1st of January.

The Barrington Fire Department and Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District on Friday took the last major step before they separate on Jan. 1, by dividing up the vehicles and equipment they co-own.

… both sides expressed satisfaction with the division.

Officials of the 48-square-mile fire district just outside of Barrington also found out this week that 16 of the 19 laid-off Barrington firefighters to whom it offered jobs have applied with them. Barrington Countryside offered these firefighters their current union salaries and vacation time, but not a continuation of their pensions.

Rowan said it is important to the fire district to retain firefighters with as much experience and institutional memory of the fire district as work there now.

The rest of the fire district’s roster of 33 full-time firefighters will be filled with staff provided by private contractor Paramedic Services of Illinois.

“I think the residents are going to be really pleased,” Rowan said. “We have the equipment we need and the personnel we need.”

On Jan. 1, the fire district will terminate its long-running contract for service from the Barrington Fire Department.

The newly divided equipment should be moved to its new locations among the village’s fire station and the fire district’s two stations in Barrington Hills and Lake Barrington about a week or two before the Jan. 1 split, Rowan said.

The contractual relationship between the village and fire district will be officially finished at the shift change at 8 a.m. on Jan. 1, he added.

Some of the previous posts on this split can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington & Countryside FPD, Barrington District board President Tom Rowan, Barrington Fire Department, Barrington Fire Department staffing, Barrington FPD terminates their contract with the Village of Barrington, Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler, fire district and village split in Barrington, fire district and village to split in Barrington