Posts Tagged Carol Stream Fire Department

Carol Stream Fire District news

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Carol Stream firefighter-paramedics will receive 2.5 percent annual salary increases under a tentative three-year contract agreement union members have ratified, which also would give lieutenants 2.75 percent pay raises in each year of the deal, retroactive to June 1.

Carol Stream Fire Protection District trustees are expected to approve the proposed contract on Aug. 8.

Earlier this month, 41 of the union’s 46 members voted in favor of ratifying the agreement, said Lt. Rick Bonk, president of the Carol Stream Firefighters Association Local 3192.  Bonk called the proposed contract a fair agreement that also would increase an education allowance — by $500 to $1,500 — for training seminars and classes.

Negotiations began in March and a federal mediator later facilitated a bargaining session in early July that got the bulk of economic issues settled.

The board also signed a three-year contract with newly appointed Fire Chief Bob Hoff that awards a $135,000 base salary. Each year of the agreement, starting next June, trustees will review his pay and consider adjustments.

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New fire chief in Carol Stream (more)

This from John Tulipano:

A few images from Monday night’s swearing in of Robert Hoff as the new Carol Stream fire chief 
Carol Stream Fire Chief Robert Hoff and his wife

John Tulipano photo

Carol Stream Fire District

John Tulipano photo

Carol Stream Fire District Chief Officers

John Tulipano photo

Chicago FD Chaplain Fr Mulcrone

John Tulipano photo

Carol Stream Fire Chief Robert Hoff being sworn in

John Tulipano photo

Carol Stream Fire Chief Robert Hoff

John Tulipano photo

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New fire chief in Carol Stream

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

The Carol Stream Fire Protection District board agreed to promote Deputy Chief Bob Hoff to the top post Monday night. Trustees are expected to approve a contract with Hoff at their meeting Monday, July 11. The length of Hoff’s contract will likely run three years. The board is still ironing out the terms of the deal, including Hoff’s salary.

Hoff will oversee a district with three fire stations and about 60 sworn employees. He joined Carol Stream in 2012 — less than two weeks after he stepped down as the head of the nation’s second-largest fire department. At the time, he aimed to spend more time with family, but got the job offer to become deputy under his longtime colleague, former Chief Rick Kolomay.

“The pace was set here when I got here, and we’re going to keep that pace up,” Hoff said shortly after the promotion. “The pride and the professionalism that this group has — it’s like when I was in the city. I love the fire service,” he said. “It’s my whole life. It’s my entire life other than my family.”

Including his son, his family has four generations of firefighters.

“He inspires me,” said Hoff, gesturing to a framed picture in his office of his father, a Chicago Fire Department battalion chief killed battling a blaze in an apartment building on Valentine’s Day 1962. Hoff was 5 years old at the time. “To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die,” reads a message below the image of his dad, Thomas, and his mom, Eleanor, who died eight years later.

The other finalist for the job was Perry Johnson, a 38-year veteran with the district. At the time of Hoff’s hiring, Johnson, then deputy chief, moved to a newly created civilian position — chief administrative officer. Together, they  have been handling the day-to-day operations of the district since Kolomay had shoulder surgery, went on paid leave, and officially retired June 1.

The two also have sat on the district’s negotiating team in ongoing contract talks with the firefighters union. Both sides are expected to meet with a federal mediator later this month. Pay raises are one of the issues that remain on the table, Hoff said. Negotiators are considering increases that would align firefighters’ salaries with those of employees in surrounding departments.

thanks Dan & Dennis

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Carol Stream wants to renovate fire station

Excerpts from theDailyHerald.com:

In 1975, Carol Stream firefighters moved into a station on Schmale Road. Even after 40 years, the location still works for covering emergencies in a now heavily developed part of town, Chief Rick Kolomay says.

But safety and training standards have evolved, and parts of the aging structure itself don’t meet those benchmarks, Kolomay says. That’s largely because the 6,200-square-foot building was converted from a gas station.

Kolomay hopes a proposal to renovate and reconfigure station No. 29 will come into clearer focus next month, when the fire protection district trustees will meet with contractors. They also will discuss how to pay for improvements during the Jan. 25 meeting.

The cost of the project could range from $2 million to $2.5 million, given the scope of the work the district has asked contractors to review, Kolomay said. The district could finance the work by taking out a loan, through existing funds, a combination of the two or phasing in renovations over several years.

The size is smaller than the typical secondary station, which tend to cover 11,000 to 15,000 square feet, but an addition isn’t planned. Storage of equipment and parts for fire trucks could move to a stand-alone structure in the rear of the building to free room inside.

But the station, he said, needs updating to meet standards by the National Fire Protection Association that, among other things, determines how firefighters should decontaminate their gear. The Jan. 25 board meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the headquarters station, 365 N. Kuhn Road.

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As seen around … Carol Stream

From Josh Boyajian and Steve Redick

Here are shots of Carol Stream Medic & Engine 29 and Tower 28.
Medic 29  – 2011 Freightliner M2106/Medtec Type I ambulance
Engine 29 – 2012 Spartan Gladiator/Alexis 1500/750 Engine
Carol Stream Fire District Engine 29

Carol Stream Fire District Engine 29 -02012 Spartan Gladiator Classic/Alexis 1500/750. Josh Boyajian photo

Carol Stream Fire District Medic 2

Carol Stream Fire District Medic 2 – 2011 Freightliner M2106/Medtec Type I. Josh Boyajian photo

Carol Stream Fire District Tower 28

Steve Redick photo

Carol Stream Fire District Engine 29

Steve Redick photo

fire department decal

Steve Redick photo

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Carol Stream Firefighters’ Ball

Carol Stream Firefighters' Ball

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Carol Stream Firefighters’ Ball

Carol Stream Firefighters' Ball

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Disability pension for former Carol Stream medic

The Daily Herald has an article about a disability pension award to a former Carol Stream paramedic:

A former Carol Stream Fire Protection District paramedic, who is the subject of a lawsuit regarding a patient’s death, has applied for and will receive non-duty disability pension benefits.

Carey Zabran’s benefits were approved Thursday by the fire district’s pension board. The benefits will total 50 percent of her pensionable salary.

The base salary for her position in 2013 was $85,099.60, according to the district’s chief administrative officer, Perry Johnson. That means Zabran will receive at least $42,550 a year as part of the non-duty disability pension.

If permanently disabled, Zabran can convert the pension to a service pension when she is 50 years old, Johnson said.  Zabran’s pension is the result of a psychological disability, Cary J. Collins, the attorney for the district’s pension board, said. Collins [also] said three doctors found Zabran “suffers from a psychological problem.” She will undergo yearly evaluations to determine if she is fit to return to duty. Zabran was last active with the district in July 2013. She will get pension payments retroactive to Aug, 1, 2013, Johnson said.

Earlier this year, Zabran was named in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed in connection with the death of 81-year-old Armida Nonneman. When filed in February, the lawsuit claimed that on Aug. 25, 2012, paramedic Zabran responded to a Carol Stream party where Nonneman was choking on food and unable to breathe. The suit alleges Zabran mishandled care for Nonneman, who died three days later at Central DuPage Hospital.

Zabran also is a key player in the separate ongoing termination hearings for Carol Stream Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Joseph Gilles.

thanks Dan

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Carol Stream Charity Ball

This from Jeff Blaksley, Carol Strea Local 3192:

The Carol Stream Professional Firefighters Local 3192 would like to cordially invite you to attend our 1st Annual Firefighters’ Ball.  Please join us for an entertaining night as we raise money for the One Hundred Club of DuPage County.   The Club offers assistance to families of law enforcement and firefighting personnel who have been killed, injured, or otherwise stricken while residing or working in the county.  Hope to see you there!

firefighter charity ball

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Family files suit against Carol Stream Fire District

The Daily Herald has an article about a lawsuit filed recently against the Carol Stream Fire District.

A Carol Stream family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday against the village and a former paramedic, claiming negligence in the choking death of an 81-year-old woman.

The lawsuit claims that on Aug. 25, 2012, the village “willfully and wantonly breached its duty” when Carol Stream Fire Protection District paramedic Carey Zabran, who is no longer with the district, responded to a call at a Carol Stream party involving Armida Nonneman, who was choking on food and could not breathe.

The suit claims Zabran initiated intubation while the food was still lodged in the woman’s throat, despite being informed by licensed off-duty paramedic and former Melrose Park Fire Chief Rick Beltrame that the food needed to be expelled or suctioned out before intubating.

It further claims Zabran was aware that “attempting to intubate a person with food still lodged in the airway can worsen the situation by pushing the food further into the airway.” Also, the paramedic failed to provide necessary treatment and to consult with other medical personnel in a timely manner, the suit alleges.

The woman was taken to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where she died three days later.

Battalion Chief Joseph Gilles, whose termination hearings began on Wednesday, claimed in October 2013 that his bosses were trying to fire him because he refused to participate in a cover-up of possible negligence by the paramedic — allegations attorneys for the fire district claim “have no validity.”

It was only when termination proceedings were being brought against Gilles that James Nonneman, a son of the deceased, said he learned of an investigation into possible negligence — 14 months after his mother’s death.

“Mr. Nonneman and his brother have been looking for the truth on this the entire time,” said attorney Paul McMahon, who is representing the family along with attorney Rick Murphy. “It’s become clear they were not told the truth. They’ve asked us to pursue this to get them the truth. If the truth ultimately leads to someone taking responsibility, that should happen, too.”

As for the amount of damages sought, McMahon said: “We won’t know until we get into the case what we would ask the jury for. There are very few cases for wrongful death that are less than $1 million.”

Fire district attorney Karl Ottosen said he would not comment on specific litigation, “but in general terms if it’s wrongful death with respect to district service, I think ‘disappointed’ would be the right thing to say.”

“In the near future, we’d expect the testimony of the Gilles trial to show there is no real basis for the lawsuit,” Ottosen said. “I do understand the family’s right to a lawsuit. From a legal standpoint, we will address the issue in court.”

“The first responder did not do proper procedures and essentially froze,” said John Botti, Gilles’ attorney.

thanks Dan

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