Posts Tagged Wauconda Fire Department

Wauconda Fire District news

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

A group of Wauconda firefighters responded to a supermarket cashier’s generosity this week by donating money to a Hurricane Harvey relief effort.

Lt. Joe Studer and two other firefighters from Wauconda Fire District station No. 2 were about to pay for groceries  Wednesday morning when they were dispatched to a call.

Before abandoning their purchase at the register, they asked the cashier to ring up the groceries and promised to return to pay.

Calls during shopping happen occasionally, Studer said, and the firefighters always return for their goods, but this time, the cashier personally paid the bill, which came to nearly $50.

Firefighters traditionally pay for their own meals when on shift. Instead of pocketing the $50 they would have spent on food, they donated the money to the American Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Wauconda firefighters and police officers stood at the intersection of Main Street and Route 176 on Friday to collect donations for the Red Cross, too.

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Wauconda Fire District news

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Micah Austin, 43, of San Tan Valley, Arizona, died while riding in the Salt River Canyon. Gila County sheriff’s police believe he got off his BMW motorcycle, slipped and fell 425 feet to his death.

His body was found by a drone in the canyon Jan. 2, a day after the motorcycle was discovered abandoned alongside a road, the Gila County sheriff’s office said.

A Texas native who later moved to Wauconda, Austin graduated from Wauconda High School in 1991. He worked for the Wauconda Fire Protection District between 1993 and 2000.

Austin moved to Arizona more than a year ago and had been working as a virtual design and construction engineer.

Visitation is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Kisselburg-Wauconda Funeral Home, 235 N. Main St. A private family gathering will follow.

Survivors include Austin’s wife, his parents, three sisters and a grandmother.

Instead of flowers, contributions may be made in Austin’s memory to the Backcountry Discovery Routes by calling (206) 383-6233 or visiting backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com.

thanks Dan

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Fatal fire in Island Lake, 9-19-16

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

An Island Lake woman was pronounced dead early Monday after being pulled by Wauconda Fire District personnel from a house fire in the 200 block of South Shore Drive.

According to a Wauconda Fire District news release, crews responded around 3:30 a.m. to an initial report of a tree on fire behind the home, located north of Route 176 and Roberts Road. Island Lake police reportedly arrived first to find heavy fire through the roof of the single-story home and the call was upgraded to a structure fire.

The release stated that a search of the structure was initiated and the crew encountered heavy smoke to the floor in the home. “During the primary search, a female victim was found and removed from the home,” the release stated. “Lifesaving procedures were initiated. The victim was transferred to the EMS crew on the scene, but the efforts were unsuccessful.”

 

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Wauconda looks into outsourcing 9-1-1 call center (more)

Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:

Wauconda plans to save more than $700,000 a year by closing its dispatch center and hiring Lake Zurich to handle police calls and overnight detainees, Wauconda Village Administrator Doug Maxeiner said.

Meanwhile, the Wauconda Fire District will pay slightly more each year for Lake Zurich to handle its dispatch, but expected those costs to rise anyway, Fire District Chief Mike Wahl said.

The Lake Zurich Village Board voted unanimously earlier this month to provide police dispatch to Wauconda for an estimated $222,000 a year, to house overnight arrestees for $75 each per night, and to provide dispatch to the fire district for an estimated $122,000 a year.

Wauconda Village Board and the Wauconda Fire District Board approved the contracts earlier this year. The fees are based on the estimated number of calls the Wauconda police and fire departments handle each year and could rise based on increases in Lake Zurich police and fire salaries.

For Wauconda, closing its dispatch center made perfect financial sense, Maxeiner said … as the village’s net cost to operate the center each year was more than $700,000.

With dispatch and overnight detainee costs, Wauconda will pay Lake Zurich just $225,000 a year, Maxeiner said.

Nonetheless, Wauconda residents needed a little convincing that Lake Zurich dispatchers would know their community well enough to dispatch emergency calls. “The technology is such that you do not have to know the community,” Maxeiner said. “The technology tells you where the calls are originating and exactly how to get there.”

Lake Zurich plans to begin offering dispatch services and overnight accommodations for detainees on May 11, after the new StarCom21 radio system is installed in the village’s dispatch center and Lake Zurich and Wauconda fire departments are linked technologically, Lake Zurich Police Chief Steve Husak said. StarCom21 is a new radio system undergoing the final phases of installation in the Lake Zurich area.

“We are getting the radios programmed and encrypted,” he said. “Hopefully, by May 11 we will have them up and running in Lake Zurich. Then we would be able to take on dispatch for them from here.”

Wahl said technology available at the Lake Zurich dispatch center is three times as great as the GPS technology available on most cellphones.

Our [current] dispatchers don’t necessarily live in Wauconda either. They get to know things the average person doesn’t know, but I suspect after time the Lake Zurich dispatchers will get the same comfort level.”

The fire district had to select another dispatch center when Wauconda chose to close theirs, Wahl said, and given that the village would have increased its fees eventually anyway, Lake Zurich fees will be about the same.

“It’s probably a break-even for us overall,” Wahl said. “It costs a little extra, but we have not had a cost increase from the village for a couple of years. If we had stayed, there most likely would have been a slight increase, for which it would have been a wash.”

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Wauconda Fire District house fire, 3-17-16 (more)

This from Tim Olk:

Great stop one story ranch house heavy fire in attached garage On arrival no fire spread to inside of house fast stop

firefighters overhaul after garage fire

Tim Olk photo

firefighters overhaul after garage fire

Tim Olk photo

Wauconda FD fire engine

Tim Olk photo

firefighter overhauls after garage fire

Tim Olk photo

firefighter overhauls after garage fire

Tim Olk photo

aftermath of garage fire

Tim Olk photo

excavator clears debris from house fire

Tim Olk photo

aftermath of garage fire

Tim Olk photo

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Wauconda Fire District house fire, 3-17-16

Wauconda firefighters responded to 28036 N. Lakeview Circle (McHenry) for a house fire Thursday morning and were met with heavy fire from the attached garage. The incident was upgraded to a Box Alarm which brought multiple tankers (tenders) to the scene plus other suppression companies.

Ferrara fire truck at fire scene

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Pierce fire trucks at fire scene

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Pierce fire truck at fire scene

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firefighters RIT

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Pierce fire truck at fire scene

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fireman at fire scene

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fire department water tenders staged at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

Pierce fire engine at fire scene drafting from portable tank

Larry Shapiro photo

house fire aftermath

Larry Shapiro photo

Ferrara fire engine at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

Pierce fire engine at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

Fox lake Fire Department ambulance

Larry Shapiro photo

more photos at shapirophotography.net

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Wauconda fire chief to retire

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Longtime Wauconda Fire District Chief David Dato will retire in August, officials announced Friday.  A traditional walkout ceremony is planned for Aug. 6, his last scheduled day of work.

Dato, 57, has served with the fire district, which covers Wauconda, Island Lake, and other nearby communities in Lake and McHenry counties, for 37 years. He’s been chief for 23 years, taking the reins in 1992. He began working with the department part-time while in college. He spent two years with the North Maine Fire Protection District in Des Plaines before joining the Wauconda district for good in 1984.

Although leaving the fire service, Dato said he is considering employment opportunities in public safety communications.

He’ll be replaced by Michael Wahl, the district’s deputy chief, who joined the Wauconda Fire District in 1987. He served as lieutenant and captain before being named deputy chief.

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2-Alarm fire in Island Lake, 11-11-14

Images by Jeff Rudolph from Wauconda’s 2-Alarm fire at the Sikh temple last night (11-11-14)

 

Pierce fire engine at fire scene

Jeff Rudolph photo

firemen with hose line

Jeff Rudolph photo

firemen with hose line

Jeff Rudolph photo

firemen with hose line

Jeff Rudolph photo

firemen with hose line

Jeff Rudolph photo

pierce tower ladder at fire scene

Jeff Rudolph photo

Cary FPD SVI squad

Jeff Rudolph photo

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2-Alarm fire in Island Lake, 11-11-14

The Chicago Tribune has an article about last night’s 2-Alarm fire for the Wauconda Fire District:

A fire caused extensive damaged to a Sikh temple in the far northwest suburbs.

Firefighters were called to the Guru Nanak Sikh Mission temple at 217 W. State Road in Island Lake at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday [to answer an automatic alarm] according to Wauconda Fire District officials. Firefighters arrived to see smoke “billowing from the building,” said Wacounda Fire Chief David Dato.

At first, firefighters were able to battle the blaze from inside the building but as flames spread, crews had to take a defensive position, Dato said.

Firefighters put out the blaze just after midnight, and no injuries were reported, officials said.

Fire officials said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as well as the Illinois state fire marshal’s office will investigate because the structure housed a place of worship.

Sikh temple destroyed by fire

Larry Shapiro photo

McHenry TWP FD Pierce Velocity tower ladder at night fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

Sikh temple destroyed by fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Sikh temple destroyed by fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Fox Lake FD Nova Quintech SkyArm at night fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

Sikh temple destroyed by fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Pierce fire engine with many hose lines at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

MABAS Air 5 refills air cylinders at fire scene

Larry Shapiro photo

Sikh temple destroyed by fire

Larry Shapiro photo

Round Lake FD engine at night fire scene with Command Light

Larry Shapiro photo

more photos at shapirophotography.net

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New rescue pumper for Wauconda

Some images of Wauconda’s new Squad 341.

Ferrara MVP fire engine

New Ferrara rescue pumper for Wauconda. Shaun Unell photo

rear chevron striping on fifre engine

Rear view of the new Wauconda squad. Shaun Unell photo

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