Posts Tagged Springfield Fire Department

Springfield Fire Department news

Excerpts from wcia.com:

The Springfield Fire Department is set to unveil its brand new, state-of-the-art fire station.

The department will host a pair of events to formally open the new Station 8, located at 600 Rickard Road. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and an open house two days later. The open house will include tours, refreshments, engagement with firefighters and a chance to learn about career opportunities within the Springfield Fire Department.

The ribbon cutting will take place May 30 at 2 p.m. with the open house taking place on June 1 from 9 a.m. to noon. The public is invited to attend both events.

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Springfield Fire Department news

#chicagoareafire.com; #history; #SpringfieldFD;

Crew of Engine House 5, individuals unidentified, probably in the 1920s (Springfield’s African-American Community and the Central East Neighborhood, Fever River Research)

Excerpts from newschannel20.com:

The history of the Black Firehouse No. 5 to be discussed

The historic Black Firehouse will be the topic of the Sangamon County Historical Society program at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 at the Black Firehouse No. Five located at 1310 E. Adams St. in Springfield.

Officials say the event is free and open to the public.

Ken Page will share the history of the site and discuss the work that has been done to restore the building and acquire old log books and photos.

He will also lead a tour of the site. The Central 3 Community First Project Inc., led by Page, is heading up the restoration which received a 2023 Historical Society Grant.

The Firehouse was built in 1902-1903 to provide needed fire service to the area east of 10th Street. It was the only firehouse where black men were allowed to serve and where the heroic firefighters were called into action during the 1908 race riot.

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Springfield Fire Department news

Excerpts from newschannel20.com:

The Springfield Fire Department has added the HAAS Alert’s Safety Cloud Digital Alerting system so that drivers will receive digital alerts when an emergency vehicle is nearby via in-dash systems. The alerts are activated when SFD’s emergency lights are in use. If you’re driving and using a navigation system, you’ll get the alert that there is an emergency vehicle nearby and to pull over.

The goal is to reduce collision risks and facilitate the state’s move-over laws.

The fire department said it will work on several navigation devices, including:

  • Jeep
  • Dodge
  • Ram
  • Chrysler vehicles
  • Waze
  • Apple Maps

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Springfield Fire Department news

Excerpts from newschannel20.com:

A Springfield firefighter who was off duty provided life-saving measures at a retail store while a woman was having a heart attack.

Peter Miller was shopping with his family when he heard the commotion and discovered a person in distress. The woman had collapsed and was unresponsive. Without hesitation, Miller initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to provide immediate assistance.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was provided at the scene. Miller efficiently utilized the AED, which successfully restored the woman’s circulation and breathing.

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Springfield Fire Department news

Excerpts from nprilliois.org:

The Springfield Fire Department has been awarded a nearly half a million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The department will use the $460,290 grant to buy 42 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) compliant air packs with, as well as a new self-contained breathing apparatus fill station to replace an existing one.

The department said the equipment will help firefighters do their jobs, including hazardous materials incidents and providing critical support during natural disasters.

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Springfield FIre Department news

Excerpts from illinoistimes.com:

After spending $1.2 million on a new firetruck, the city of Springfield found out it is one inch too tall to fit under the viaduct near the main fire station.

“It’s too tall to fit under the Capitol Avenue underpass. So, anytime we have to go west from downtown, we can’t go that way. Normally, that’s OK – unless there’s a train – and then we either have to go all the way down to Stanford or all the way up to Sangamon,” said Kainan Rinaberger, who heads Springfield Fire Fighters Local 37. “In the past when rigs have been designed, it’s been a collaborative process. But this time it was the previous chief and administrative chief who designed them on their own,” he said.

The predicament has caused quite a bit of finger-pointing and the discontent has climbed each rung of the administrative ladder until it reached the desk of the city’s newly elected mayor.

The city recently took delivery of the new ladder truck and two engines. The mayor is quick to point out that the vehicle orders – and their design specifications – were made by the previous administration. During the next year, SFD is slated to receive one more ladder and five more engines. And firefighters are upset about the process.

During her first week in office, the new mayor replaced Fire Chief Brandon Blough with Ed Canny, who had been serving as the fire marshal.

“We’re not just responding to fires and EMS calls anymore. We’re responding to almost everything that is considered an emergency. … For example, in the past we didn’t have equipment for structural collapses or trench rescues. We didn’t carry a ton of equipment on a fire apparatus back then. A fire apparatus now has to be multifunctional,” Canny said.

But this comes at a cost. The bigger rigs have more trouble navigating down tight alleys and streets as well as fitting under low bridges and viaducts, he said.

Canny said the new firetruck will likely serve the city for at least two more decades. So, firefighters will need to train for alternative routes to avoid heading west on Capitol Avenue. In the event of a long, slow train chugging down the Third Street corridor, a firetruck stationed on the west side of town may need to be dispatched eastward, he said.

He added that viaducts on Dodge Street, Hazel Dell Road and Cockrell Lane are too low for even some of the city’s older firetrucks to pass beneath. So, the department has long had to plan alternate routes to avoid such obstacles.

The Third Street rail corridor may be relocated as soon as 2025, Canny noted. After that, the Capitol Avenue viaduct will no longer serve as a barrier to the new truck.

But, in the meantime, it stands as an accident just waiting to happen, Rinaberger said.

“The way we operate normally is to have the same people on the same piece of equipment every day. So normally you’re going to have the same three drivers on all three shifts. … But people come and fill in and they may forget they can’t go that way anymore and they will run that new truck into that old bridge.”

thanks Rob

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Springfield FIre Department news

Excerpts from foxillinois.com:

The new mayor of Springfield is looking into possibly creating a citywide ambulance service because these are services taxpayers pay for, so the city must provide them.

 The mayor said instead of fighting fires, firefighters are providing medical care, and that at least 10 times a month a firefighter has to give medical care because there were no ALS providers on the ambulance, just BLS. 

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Springfield Fire Department news

excerpts from illinoistimes.com;

The union representing Springfield firefighters wants to see the city move into the ambulance business, transporting patients to the hospital in the most urgent situations to reduce waits for care.

City officials are studying a fully or partially municipally operated ambulance service as one option for improving emergency medical services. The concept was discussed in a January analysis of fire department operations done by the nonprofit Center for Public Safety Management in Washington, D.C.

Since 1996, Springfield code has restricted the transport of patients to hospitals to up to three state-licensed, private organizations. The current three are for-profit America Ambulance and LifeStar Ambulance and nonprofit MedicsFirst.

The Dec. 18 death of a Springfield resident allegedly related to improper treatment by a LifeStar paramedic and an emergency medical technician, has prompted more public discussion of potential improvements in EMS.

The firefighters’ union would like to discuss a potential municipally operated service as part of talks to resolve a complaint filed by the union. The complaint came after the city in December 2021, in consultation with local ambulance providers and hospitals, began to require fire personnel, rather than ambulance employees, to act as chief medical providers in certain circumstances when private ambulances transport patients to hospitals.

The city isn’t paid for medical services performed by its firefighters.

Firefighters, all of whom are either EMTs or paramedics, have ridden in the back of ambulances for years to assist private ambulance paramedics when the need arose.

The city doesn’t believe it needs to bargain over the new requirement, but the union disagrees. The Illinois Labor Relations Board has sided with the union thus far, but Springfield Corporation Counsel James Zerkle said the dispute is “currently on review” with the board.

Firefighters want extra pay and the right to bargain other details associated with the new requirement, such as a startup of a city-operated ambulance service to improve responses.

The study estimated such a service could cost $2 million to $2.8 in startup expenses for ambulances and equipment, and between $3 million and $4.5 million per year in base personnel costs, not including pension liabilities.

 

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New engine for Springfield

From the Pierce Flickr site:

Pierce, City of Springfield FD, IL, 37340-1

#chicagoareafire.com; #SpringfieldFD; #FireTruck; #Enforcer;

Pierce composite

thanks Martin

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Springfield Fire Department news

Excerpts from sj-r.com:

The Springfield mayor said he envisioned ground being broken for three new stations for the Springfield Fire Department after city council members kept the allocation for their construction at $10 million during Tuesday’s special budget meeting. Council members rejected by a 9-1 vote an amendment that would have proposed the construction of two firehouses.

A $6.2 million appropriation for the purchase of six engines and a truck for the SFD passed with no discussion. The equipment issue engendered a lot of discussion over the last several weeks, though it wasn’t originally in the budget.

With one engine and one truck still not arrived from the FY22 budget, the fire department will have nine new rigs within the next year. It addresses a major problem: 13 of the rigs are 15 years or older, with eight of them 20 years or older. Industry best practices, a report on the department issued by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Safety Management, LLC, suggest equipment should be replaced after 15 years.

Plans call for Station 6 to move from 2156 S. Ninth St. to 11th and Ash streets, the site of the former Honeywell-Hobbs. Station 8, now situated at 2051 W. Monroe St., would move to Lawrence Avenue, just west of Veterans Parkway, near a Dollar General store. A 13th station would be slotted for property the city owns right off of Woodside Road.

Earlier, the council earmarked $750,000 for SFD personnel overtime. With a new class of firefighters anticipated, it will cut down on overtime. 

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