Photos from Tim Olk of the 2-Alarm commercial fire at 351 N. York Road in Elmhurst (1/26/17)
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Posts Tagged Elmhurst Fire Department
First of multiple postings on the 2-Alarm commercial fire at 351 N. York Road in Elmhurst, VIP Occasions.
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
The Elmhurst Fire Department will be purchasing fire protection suits, thanks to a grant from Illinois American Water. The IAW 2016 Firefighter Grant Program provides financial assistance to fire and emergency organizations serving communities in its service areas. This year, approximately $49,600 will be awarded to 62 fire departments. To date, the program has resulted in over 350 grants totaling over $342,000 awarded across the state.
Grants of up to $700 are awarded to cover the costs associated with the following:
• Personal protective gear
• Communications equipment
• Firefighting tools
• Water handling equipment
• Training and related activities/materials used to support community fire protection
• Reimbursement for specific fire training classes, including training manuals and workbooks
This from Karl Klotz:
Here are some (cell phone) photos from the Fire Service Inc. open house on a cloudy September 9th in St. John Indiana.
Homer Twp will be taking delivery soon of the new Engine 32. University Park will be taking delivery of the new E-ONE engine with a 2nd E-ONE engine still in production. There were a few other demo rigs on display as well as the old Lincolnwood Truck 15
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
Karl Klotz photo
From the Elmhurst.org:
Mayor Steve Morley will appoint Thomas K. Freeman as the City of Elmhurst’s new fire chief at the upcoming City Council meeting on Tuesday, September 6th.
Freeman comes to Elmhurst after serving as the fire chief for the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District for 22 years. He also worked as a firefighter for the Village of Evergreen Park where he was promoted to several positions, and eventually became assistant fire chief. Freeman has over 44 years of experience and expertise in firefighting and holds a Masters in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University. Among many certifications and memberships, he is an active member of the DuPage County Crisis Management Team.
Freeman is charged with leading the Elmhurst Fire Department operations while managing fire control and prevention, overseeing enforcement of municipal fire codes, and coordinating fire safety community outreach programs.
Chief Freeman will assume his role as the City of Elmhurst Fire Chief on October 10, 2016.
thanks Tom
Excerpts from the City of Elmhurst:
City of Elmhurst unveils new fire truck
Elected Officials, city staff, and fire department personnel have officially welcomed a new tower ladder to the City of Elmhurst.
During a ceremonial unveiling of the new apparatus which took place on Monday July 11th at 9 a.m., Father Andrew of Saint Demetrios Church in Elmhurst blessed the new truck and Interim Fire Chief Bill Anaszewicz thanked elected officials and the apparatus committee for all of the work put into the designing of the new apparatus.
The city purchased the new ladder truck in June 2015 from Emergency One where it then went through one year of building and testing before being ready for service.
Several upgraded features to the new truck include a new pump configuration and controls, improved LED lighting, and a state of the art basket design making it easier for firefighters to carry tools, conduct rescues, and access roofs. The new ladder truck cost approximately $960,000 and has a life expectancy of over 20 years.
The ceremonial unveiling of the new ladder truck also included a wet down, a long-standing fire service tradition where new apparatus is anointed with water by local clergy and then cleaned and slowly rolled backwards into the bay by firefighters.
Also in attendance was special guest John Dramm, a 94 year-old retired firefighter who was one of the last drivers of the city’s antique Seagrave pumper. After the ceremony, firefighters took Mr. Dramm for a ride on the antique fire truck.
thanks Dennis
From the Fire Service, Inc. Facebook page:
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
previous posts can be found HERE
This from Eric B:
Here is a picture of the new tower ladder that the Elmhurst FD took delivery of Friday (5/20/16). It is a 2016 E-One 95′ Cyclone II tower ladder, with a 1,500-gpm pump and 300-gallon tank. It should be in service the first part of June.
New tower ladder for the Elmhurst Fire Department. Eric B photo
Excerpts from MySuburbanlife.com:
The Elmhurst Fire Department has three firefighter vacancies it hasn’t replaced because of state budgetary concerns.
Elmhurst City Manager Jim Grabowski addressed the issue at the April 18 City Council meeting after residents spoke about the vacancies at the April 4 and 11 meetings.
Elmhurst resident Geoff Gaebel spoke during the public comment portion of the April 18 meeting. Gaebel, a firefighter in another municipality, said the Elmhurst Fire Department has been short three firemen for about a year, bringing the staffing down to the lowest level since 1999.
The problem with the shortage, Gaebel said, is either the fire trucks are operating below standard levels or firefighters are working overtime to make up for the staffing insufficiency.
“When the apparatus runs with less than three personnel, bad things happen,” Gaebel said. “Bad things happen to the firefighters; bad things happen to the city, to the residents, to the buildings, to the lives of this town.”
Gaebel cited a National Fire Protection Association document and a City Managers Association study that states at least a four-person crew is needed to pump and deliver water and perform search and rescue.
Grabowski provided the city council and residents with the reasoning behind not hiring firefighters for the three vacant positions. He emphasized that despite the shortage the fire department is performing at the expected standards.
“I want to stress that the residents of Elmhurst are safe right now as we were nine months ago and nine years ago,” Grabowski said.
He went on to say he has not authorized hiring the three replacements because of the state budget crisis.
“The potential direct effect of [the Illinois budget crisis] to Elmhurst is a proposal to eliminate $2.2 million of Elmhurst revenue,” Grabowski said. “This is revenue that we would normally receive unless the General Assembly approves legislation to change the funding formula and withhold this from Elmhurst.”
The city manager said the biggest expense for the city is personnel, so if there is a reduction in revenue, the city may have to consider layoffs … adding that a clause in the collective bargaining agreement with the fire union prohibits layoffs to firefighters during the contract period, which lasts through May 2017.
To make up for the shortage, firefighters are being paid time-and-a-half to cover all three shifts.
Alderman Mark Mulliner spoke after Grabowski, saying he believes the reduction in staff negatively affects the firefighters.
“By placing firemen in overtime and requiring them to be on overtime you are putting an undue burden on those firefighters as far as expecting them to be there on double shifts during certain times,” Mulliner said. “There is a grave concern about that.”
He also said Grabowski’s cost argument for not replacing the firefighters was invalid because paying firefighters overtime is also a great cost to the city. Additionally, Mulliner said, there have been other hires in the last year that contradict the potential revenue reduction from the state.
“I’m gravely concerned about the fact that we continually say we are not going to hire these three firefighters,” Mulliner said. “By the way, it is actually four [vacancies] because we are down a chief right now. “
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Comments by a resident at a recent Elmhurst City Council meeting have focused attention on fire department staffing levels.
Geoff Gaebel, who said he is a lifelong Elmhurst resident and a firefighter in a nearby town, has criticized the city’s decision not to hire additional firefighters to replace two who retired and one who is on medical disability.
“The Elmhurst Fire Department is currently short three members and has been for about a year, bringing the department down to its lowest staffing level since 1999,” Gaebel said.
City manager James Grabowski noted the city contracts with Metro Paramedic Services, Inc., part of Superior Ambulance Service, for two advanced life support ambulances and 12 paramedics who average seven years of experience, and that the department was covering the three vacancies with overtime.
“None of the three shifts is running a firefighter short,” Grabowski said. “Each shift is being covered by an Elmhurst firefighter being paid time and a half.”
He cited uncertainty over Illinois state finances and provisions of the firefighter union contract for not hiring replacements for the three positions.
“We’d just like to see our manning (restored) to replace the three guys and anyone additional that retires,” said Ed Siuzdak, an Elmhurst firefighter and member of the executive board of the Elmhurst Local 3541 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Siuzdak said union representatives had discussed with Grabowski removing the no layoff provision, but didn’t get a clear commitment from him that he would then hire firefighters to fill the vacancies.
Siuzdak said union representatives had also talked with Grabowski about upgrading fire engines with advanced life support equipment, including monitors, telemetry, and advanced life support level drugs as backups when ambulances are out on other calls or far from a medical emergency.
According to Siuzdak, about a third of firefighters are paramedics but aren’t functioning in that role.
Grabowski indicated Tuesday he was still concerned with budget and revenue issues. The offer to drop the no layoff provision also involved several other issues and would have applied only to possible layoffs of new hires for the three existing vacancies, he said.
He added that discussions over upgrading engines to advanced life support levels had not covered possible additional personnel costs or questions about how many certified paramedics would be available on any given shift to cover the upgraded apparatus.
thanks Dan
