Posts Tagged Fire Chief Jeff Swanson

Barrington & Barrington sign auto-aid agreement

The Daily Herald has an article about an automatic aid agreement that has been signed between the Village of Barrington Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District.

Nearly six months after their acrimonious breakup, the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District and the Barrington Fire Department have reached an automatic aid agreement governing when, how and where each will respond to emergencies in the other’s jurisdiction.

The deal, ratified by both sides Monday evening, calls for the district to respond to all commercial fire alarms in the village of Barrington that occur west of Route 59. In return, the Barrington Fire Department will provide fire and emergency medical service coverage to sections of the district that are in the vicinity of the village’s fire station at 400 N. Northwest Highway.

The agreement was negotiated by district Fire Chief Jeff Swanson and Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie.

“We are confident that (the agreement) improves public safety for residents of both the district and village, and ensures that the aid we provide will be reciprocated when we need it,” Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District board President Thomas C. Long said.

Prior to Jan. 1, the fire district paid the village of Barrington to provide fire protection services to its 48-square mile jurisdiction, which includes the towns of Barrington Hills, South Barrington, Lake Barrington, Inverness and unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties. But after disputes over staffing and equipment needs, the fire district ended the relationship and launched its own department at the start of the year.

thanks Dan

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Barrington Countryside FPD updates

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

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