Barrington Fire district President Tom Rowan

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Barrington Fire District offers to hire laid off firefighters

Aug 27

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | 3 Comments

The Daily Herald has an article about the Barrington & Countryside FPD offering to hire all 19 pf the laid off Barrington firefighters.

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District will offer jobs to all 19 firefighters to be laid off by the village of Barrington on Jan. 1 at their current union-level salaries and earned vacation time.

But these firefighters have to take advantage of their preferred status by applying before Aug. 31.

“We know how valuable these employees are,” fire district President Tom Rowan said. “We helped to train them.”

What the fire district won’t offer — at least not immediately — are the pension plans these firefighters have had as members of the Barrington Fire Department’s union. The employees will start 401(k) plans instead.

The finalization of the fire district’s 2014 staffing plan Monday came one week after the village of Barrington did the same.

Both agencies are preparing to end the long-running contract in which the village provided staffing for the 48-square-mile fire district just beyond its borders.

The fire district will employ an increased staff of 34, largely through private contractor Paramedic Services of Illinois. District trustees have been working with the firm to ensure that Barrington’s laid-off firefighters can be hired at their current salaries.

Yet to come is the division of the equipment the agencies co-own, as well as determination of the exact nature of their cooperation after Jan. 1.

Fire district trustees are skeptical of the automatic-aid agreement Barrington is proposing that would ask both agencies to take primary responsibility for calls closest to their respective stations, regardless of which jurisdiction they’re actually in.

Fire district trustees say they want to be assured they’re getting roughly as much help as they’re giving.

Barrington village officials say firefighters based in the village have responded to calls in the district about 2.5 times as often as the reverse over the last four years.

But fire district Trustee Tom Long said the staffing changes to be implemented on Jan. 1 make any such historical data irrelevant.

While the fire district’s stations in Barrington Hills and Lake Barrington are currently staffed by three people each, in 2014 they each will have a full crew of five or six at all times, Long said.

Previous posts can be found HERE.

Tags: Barrington & Countryside Fire Protection District, Barrington Fire Department, Barrington Fire Department staffing, Barrington Fire district President Tom Rowan, Barrington FPD terminates their contract with the Village of Barrington, Barrington to lay off 19 firefighters, fire district and village split in Barrington, Paramedic Services of Illinois

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.