Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
After serving the community for more than 40 years, Geneva Fire Chief Steve Olson will be retiring June 30. Olson, of Geneva, said he intends to retire so he can explore opportunities for teaching the next crop of firefighters.
In 1974, Olson joined the ranks of the Geneva Fire Department as an on-call firefighter. He was promoted to lieutenant coming on board as a full-time employee. He was promoted to captain and deputy fire chief before becoming chief in 1996. Olson oversees 27 full-time firefighters and paramedics, and 40 paid on-call members.
Apart from working for the Geneva Fire Department, Olson served as a field instructor for the Illinois Fire Service Institute from 1986 to 1996.
During his time with the department, he saw the construction of two fire stations, the purchase of a new fleet of vehicles, and the implementation of technology.
New to the department was a community-based automated external defibrillator program that assisted local businesses and organizations in acquiring the devices in addition to training, installation, and maintenance. The department also developed the in-service company inspection program that ensured annual inspection of commercial properties and introduced the use of laptop computers in fire vehicles to improve firefighter and paramedic response.
In 2001, the department received accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and they have been accredited ever since. It changes the way the department does business for the better.
