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Posts Tagged Clarendon Hills Fire Department
Found on eBay:
2008 International 4300 / Medtec Ambulance
(Bidding has ended on this item.)
Up for auction is a 2008 International 4300 / MedTec Ambulance. It was purchased new by the Village of Clarendon Hills and used as a full active service ambulance by the Clarendon Hills FD until early 2015. It was then taken out of full active service in 2015, placed in reserve status through July 2022 and only used when our newer ambulance was out of service for maintenance and/or repairs. This vehicle has a valid safety lane sticker dated 8/22.International4300
Motor: International MaxxForce DT [Original motor]
Transmission:Allison [Original unit]
Air Suspension with rear dump
51 Gallon Diesel fuel tank under passenger step
Clarendon Hills FD photo
Clarendon Hills FD photo
thanks Martin
Excerpts from the patch.com:
Scott Pilafas, who worked as a Clarendon Hills paramedic for 19 years, submitted his resignation April 10. He singled out Fire Chief Brian Leahy for criticism.
“The current leadership in the department has made it unbearable to work,” Pilafas said. “The Chief places value on local department members with minimal experience while undervaluing Firefighter/Paramedics who are needed for the majority of calls… This continues to create a toxic divide in the department.”
In his resignation letter, Pilafas said he was vocal about the fire department not replacing the ladder truck. Leahy and other department leaders strongly favored buying a truck, despite the village manager’s reservations.
“It’s hard to work for leadership that doesn’t respect paramedics and has never had to be a paramedic or walk in our shoes,” Pilafas said in the letter. “You can add me to the list of the over 70 Paramedics that have come through the door in the past 19 years.”
As with all paramedics and firefighters in Clarendon Hills, Pilafas was part time. He is a full-time Chicago firefighter.
Pilafas said the fire department is buying a new ambulance, but may have no one to staff it. He said these staffing problems have occurred while the fire department put its emphasis on a new ladder truck.
In March, Chief Leahy said the village needed paramedics, but said the fire department could cover its ambulance shifts.
Leahy did not return messages for comment left on Monday and Thursday.
thanks Martin
From the Foster Coach Sales website:
Foster Coach Sales photo
Foster Coach Sales photo
thanks Martin
From the patch.com:
Clarendon Hills needs paramedics, but the fire department can cover its shifts the chief said.
Every month, Fire Chief Brian Leahy releases the monthly schedule more than a couple of weeks ahead of time. Many shifts, often during weekends, are open. For March, the fire department put out the original schedule Feb. 11. Nearly two weeks later, about four dozen shifts remained unfilled.
“That’s pretty normal,” Leahy said in an interview. “The firefighters, EMTs and paramedics put in their shift requests. Some don’t put in any until they get their schedules for their full-time jobs.”
Except for Leahy, the department’s members are part time. He said the department has looked at how other departments with paid, on-call models handle scheduling.
On the open shifts, he said that 99.9 percent of the time, someone will pick up a shift. At the same time, he acknowledged staffing can be difficult.
“We’ve been struggling through this all through COVID,” Leahy said. “McDonald’s can’t get enough employees. It’s the same thing.”
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thanks Scott
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thanks Scott
Excerpts from patch.com:
Clarendon Hills’ elected officials have been silent on the status of Village Manager Kevin Barr for the last two weeks. But his continued employment appears to be in question. Some residents have pointed to comments during a recent meeting of a village board committee meeting as possibly contributing to the situation.
Barr has been on personal leave for a couple of weeks. Last Wednesday, the village board held a more than two-hour closed session on an employee’s situation, but trustees would not identify the employee. On Monday night, the board is set to vote on an employment agreement with Barr.
At the Jan. 12 Public Safety Committee, officials discussed the possibility of buying a new ladder truck for the fire department, which is expected to cost $1.4 million. The price of such trucks has escalated in the last year, with the village originally budgeting $1 million. Barr has talked about the possibility of sharing a ladder truck with neighboring towns to reduce costs. But firefighters, including Chief Brian Leahy, say the village needs the truck. During the committee meeting, Barr made at least two references to the long time that Leahy has been with the fire department. According to Leahy’s LinkedIn page, he joined the department in the 1970s.
When officials were discussing fatal fires over the years, Leahy said his recollection was that the village fought a fatal fire a dozen years ago or maybe longer. “But not 1930,” Barr said, adding, “I’m sorry you were there.” Others laughed.
Later in the meeting, they were discussing the efficiencies in law enforcement services over time. “Dispatch is a fantastic example,” Barr said. “It’s a million times better and more efficient than it was, Brian, back in 1930, right?” Others could be heard chuckling.
Near the end of the meeting, Leahy said a number of firefighters had tested positive for the coronavirus. Barr said the situation would likely worsen over the next three weeks. “You didn’t give it to everybody, did you, Roger? It’s either you or me,” Barr said, referring to Assistant Fire Chief Roger Krupp.
Barr has prohibited Leahy from speaking with the media on most issues. Within about a week of the meeting, Barr started his leave.
thanks Scott
Excerpts from patch.com:
The Clarendon Hills village manager expressed frustration Monday with members of the fire department in the continuing controversy over whether the village should buy a new ladder truck. For months, he has looked at the possibility of sharing a ladder truck with another town, mostly likely Hinsdale. As a result, he said, department employees, family members, and other interested residents have conducted a public relations campaign to convince the village board to end the debate and buy a new ladder truck. Meanwhile, the fire chief said he is not allowed to talk to media about the issue.
The expected price of a new truck has soared to $1.4 million, from $1 million and the current one is nearing the end of its useful life.
In a memo, the village manager listed seven communities with populations similar to the combined population of Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills. Each of them have one ladder truck, unlike the two in Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills. The other towns are Batavia, Glen Ellyn, Melrose Park, Oak Forest, Westmont, Wilmette, and Elmwood Park, plus there are 16 towns about the size of Clarendon Hills that a ladder truck including Calumet Park, Hillside, Princeton, River Forest, Riverside, and West Dundee.
La Grange, which is nearly double the size of Clarendon Hills, has been without a ladder truck for more than a decade. Last month, La Grange fought a fire in a three-story house with Hinsdale and Westmont providing ladder trucks. Usually, La Grange relies on the Pleasantview Fire Protection District for a ladder truck, but they weren’t available.
Last fall, Clarendon Hills officials met with La Grange’s fire chief to discuss operations, and learned that La Grange has seen no notable negative results being without a ladder truck and that they have an informal relationship with neighboring departments to provide support if needed.
For this year’s budget, the village has earmarked $30,000 for a consultant to look at the issue of fire department vehicles.
Proponents of a new ladder truck say the village’s insurance rating would likely drop without one in town, increasing residents’ insurance premiums. At a Public Safety Committee meeting in November, the chief was concerned about the impact on the department’s staffing model if it were provided with inferior equipment.
A former village trustee in favor of a new ladder truck suggested the village eliminate the assistant village manager’s position and the $50,000-a-year contract with the local chamber of commerce.
Last fall, the Hinsdale village president their village board that the two towns have an intergovernmental agreement that calls for sharing fire personnel, equipment, and vehicles. He wondered whether Clarendon Hills needed to spend so much money on a ladder truck when Hinsdale had one.
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