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Posts Tagged Mundelein FIre Department
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Mundelein officials have commissioned an independent study of fire department activity to assess whether additional fire stations might be needed.
The Illinois Fire Chiefs Association will look at types of calls, traffic conditions, response times, likely future development, and other factors to determine if a proposed third station is needed. The group also will advise if land being eyed on the University of St. Mary of the Lake campus would be an appropriate location for a station. They will opine if a west-side station may be warranted in the future, too — and if so, suggest where it should be built. In July 2018, the village board approved a letter of intent to lease land on the University of St. Mary of the Lake campus for a third fire station. The letter didn’t commit the village to a lease or to building a new station.
The study will be good for long-range village planning, especially if officials ever decide to build a station on the west side because of continued expansion in that area.
Both of the village’s fire stations are west of the train tracks. The main station is on the village’s north side at 1000 N. Midlothian Road, north of Route 176. A satellite station is on the south side at 1300 S. Lake St., near Hickory Street. Mundelein hasn’t had a fire station east of the railroad tracks in decades. Train traffic on the Canadian National Railroad results in frequent road closures at the tracks, which can affect response times to emergencies on the east side of town.
The information from the study could be used to encourage a developer to donate land to the village for a new station. Such a gift led to the construction of the main station, which opened in 2000. This also could help village officials determine impact fees that would be assessed to developers to help pay for fire service to any new homes. The study will cost the village nearly $15,000.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Mundelein officials took another step with restructuring the fire department after trustees recently decided to continue a plan that first was acted on last year to reorganize the department. The 4-3 vote June 24, approving the restructuring, eliminates a vacant lieutenant position and adds a new firefighter to the department which now includes four lieutenants and 20 firefighter/paramedics. Last year, the department employed six lieutenants and 15 firefighters. Mundelein also uses six firefighters from a private firm.
The board’s vote formalizes the staffing situation. It proved to be much closer than in February 2018, when a larger majority approved the first staffing change and the sale of a 100-foot ladder truck following a long debate involving members of the Mundelein firefighter’s union and its supporters.
With the latest vote, the mayor, who supported the restructuring plan in 2018, was required to break a split among village board members, giving the latest proposed staffing changes village approval.
A portion of another ordinance that trustees recently addressed also seemed to indicate a desire to employ three lieutenants, describing how the fire department functioned responsively and safely with three lieutenants up to 2007. Between 2007 and 2018, the department used two lieutenants per shift, with one at each of the two fire stations. The ordinance seems to depart from the original staffing decision in 2018, when the stated goal was to have four lieutenants — one for each 24-hour shift and a training lieutenant who could fill in on a shift when others are on leave.
But following the vote on June 24, the fire chief said the goal of employing four lieutenants still remains the same. He said officials have not decided, yet, if the fourth lieutenant will be a training officer or would stay on one of the three shifts. He also pointed to a June 2018 decision to hire three additional firefighters, which were paid for with money previously being spent on overtime, and money saved when the first lieutenant position was eliminated.The staffing change has resulted in fewer firefighter/paramedics working 72 consecutive hours, which involve an extra 24-hour shift at overtime wages in between regularly scheduled 24-hour shifts.
Excerpts from the Dailyherald.com:
The Mundelein Fire Department acquired a MegaCode Kelly machine that lets emergency personnel practice administering intravenous drugs and defibrillating hearts on a life-size subject, among other tasks. It even can be programmed to emit artificial breathing and bowel sounds, cough or wheeze. The mannequin cost about $13,000. Funding came from charitable donations and other sources.
The department got the mannequin last year, but training didn’t begin until about eight weeks ago because supplies needed for simulations, such as expired medication bottles and empty intravenous medication bags, had to be gathered.
Firefighters demonstrated how they use the mannequin before Monday’s village board meeting.
Every member of the department will be trained on MegaCode Kelly. They want to expand its use to include other challenging medical emergencies, such as diabetic and allergic crises. They hope to purchase a pediatric version of the mannequin. The mannequin is an element of a greater departmental plan to better address cardiac emergencies.
The American Heart Association says more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside a hospital setting annually in the U.S.
As part of the effort, the department is implementing a team-treatment method called the pit crew model where each member of a response team has a specific role, such as administering drugs or performing chest compressions.
Deputy Fire Chief Darren Brents created the response method years ago while he was with the Palatine Fire Department, after the cardiac-related death of a family member. Northwest Community Hospital now teaches the method to the paramedics in its system, and departments across the country also use it.
New engine for Mundelein
Jun 15
New area apparatus orders
Oct 12
from fire apparatus magazine
Fox Lake Fire Protection District – Alexis top-mount pumper with a Spartan Metro Star cab and chassis, 1,500-gpm pump, 1,000-gallon tank. Delivery in May 2019.
Mundelein Fire Department – Pierce Enforcer pumper 1,500-gpm pump, 750-gallon tank. Delivery in April 2019.
thanks Ron
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Firefighters often are called heroes. They’re trained to run into burning buildings to save people and property. But Mundelein firefighter-paramedics Dan Mastandrea and Dan Buhrmester are being hailed as heroes for acts of kindness. After treating an 84-year-old resident who fell while doing yard work last month, Mastandrea and Buhrmester finished the chores for her.
Buhrmester, a 10-year veteran of the department, and Mastandrea, who’s been with the department about a year, were part of a crew that responded to the July 17 call. The woman injured her hip. A neighbor called 911.
On the ambulance ride, the woman expressed disappointment that she wasn’t going to be able to finish her landscaping work. After they dropped her off at the hospital, Mastandrea and Buhrmester returned to the house. Still wearing their uniforms, they edged the lawn, watered flowers, and then put the woman’s lawn equipment in a safe place when they were done. The work took 15 or 20 minutes.
Fire Chief Bill Lark called Buhrmester and Mastandrea’s actions “a great example of helping someone in need and going above and beyond what is expected.”
thanks Dan
Excerpts from the Dailyherald.com:
Mundelein trustees have approved a plan to reserve land that one day could be the site of a new fire station in a heavily wooded area on the southeast side of the University of St. Mary of the Lake campus, just inside the main entrance on Route 176 and east of the Hawley Street split.
The village board on Monday approved a letter of intent to lease the land from the Archdiocese of Chicago. The letter doesn’t commit the village to a lease or to building a new fire station. According to a joint statement from the university and the archdiocese, the university values its relationship with Mundelein and was glad to be able to accommodate the new fire station.
Both of Mundelein’s fire stations — the headquarters at 1000 N. Midlothian Road and a small station at 1300 S. Lake St. — are west of the Canadian National tracks that divide much of the town. Officials long have discussed building a fire station east of the tracks to be closer to residents and businesses in that part of town.
Other possible sites for a third station that were discussed but rejected include the old village hall on Hawley Street and a former fire station on Seymour Avenue that’s now a public works facility.
The lease won’t cost the village anything right now. The deal gives Mundelein 30 rent-free months to examine the town’s fire safety needs, to ensure the location is the best spot for a station and to do financial analysis for the project.
If the village eventually builds a fire station on the property, rent will begin at $100,000 annually, according to the agreement. The rent may increase or decrease up to 5 percent annually based in inflation or deflation, the deal states.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
On July 21, Mundelein will conduct candidate testing for three new firefighter positions created last month as part of an ongoing series of changes in the department.
In the last few months, village trustees have approved the hiring of a deputy fire chief, the elimination of the public safety director position in favor of a dedicated fire chief, the sale of a 100-foot ladder truck, and a reduction in the number of lieutenants.
One new firefighter was approved in February as part of the decision to eliminate a lieutenant position. The previous total of 15 full-time firefighters now rises to 19 after trustees approved adding three more positions on June 25. In addition to the career firefighters, the department also uses six contract firefighters from a private firm.
Fire Chief Bill Lark made the request and gave a brief explanation during the June 25 board meeting. Lark said some employees are out of the rotation due to injuries, military deployment or paid time off.
There have been rising tensions at the fire department between the village and Mundelein Professional Fire Fighters Local 4786. A letter sent by the union to trustees referenced an internal memo that allegedly informed employees of a plan to eliminate three of the department’s six lieutenant positions through attrition. The union expressed concerns over safety and urged trustees to vote against the plan. Union leaders filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Illinois Labor Relations Board against the village of Mundelein in late January.
Following a lengthy public debate, trustees on Feb. 26 voted to eliminate one lieutenant position and transfer duties previously listed under a vacant fire prevention job into the building department, while creating one new firefighter position.
At that time, Lark said the longterm goal was to eventually have four lieutenants instead of six and to hire two new firefighters this summer. He said one lieutenant would staff each 24-hour shift — instead of one at each station — and an administrative lieutenant would then substitute when other employees are injured or on vacation.
The eliminated lieutenant and fire prevention bureau job were vacant. Mundelein officials on numerous occasions said they had no intention of laying off employees.
Overtime spending reached more than $800,000 in 2017.
Now having committed to four new firefighter positions, Mundelein has gone beyond its previously disclosed plan.
Lark said the village still has five lieutenants and the village board has not formally voted to eliminate any other positions.
thanks Dan
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Mundelein on Monday appointed its first fire chief since 2015, moving away from a management structure that had the police chief in charge of both departments. Bill Lark, who has spent the last several years in various fire department leadership positions, was named the new chief. He was promoted to battalion chief in 2014, deputy chief in 2015, and the position of chief deputy chief in 2017.
Lark’s promotion follows the appointment of Darren Brents as deputy fire chief in April. Brents previously served as a training officer at the Palatine Fire Department, where he started in 1998.
Mundelein’s fire department had been operating with one deputy chief since January 2017 when Deputy Chief Ben Yoder retired and Lark took over the job.
The two moves come after Mundelein’s firefighters union in February filed an unfair labor practice charge against the village and publicly spoke out against an ordinance that reduced the number of lieutenants from six to four in order to hire extra firefighters. Among the complaints firefighters listed in a February letter to village trustees was the lack of a certified fire chief and other supervisors who could plan and lobby for the department.
Police Chief Eric Guenther was appointed director of public safety in August 2015. At the time, he was given a $971.66 per month for his duties with the fire department.
Shortly after Guenther’s appointment, conversations were held between Mundelein and the neighboring Countryside Fire Protection District on consolidation-related topics, like sharing of personnel in the wake of Mundelein’s vacancies. The two governments did not sign any agreements beyond standard mutual aid response.
In the final months of the management arrangement, the village sold a 100-foot ladder truck, contracted with Libertyville for shared use of their ladder truck, and changed staffing to have three lieutenants — one for each shift — and a training lieutenant instead of two lieutenants per shift.
Although the firefighters union objected and made claims that safety was at risk, Guenther and Lark said morale is slowly improving.
