The Daily Herald has an article about the appointment of William B. Sohn as the new fire chief for the South Elgin & Countryside FPD:
William B. Sohn has served as fire chief for the South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection District for just two weeks, but he knows the job well, having spent 38 years with the district.
One of his priorities is to come up with a plan to remodel Station 1, by village hall on State Street, or build a new station elsewhere along Route 31. Station 1 doesn’t have enough office space and is in need of major repairs such as new driveways in the back, he said.
The district covers a 22 -square-mile area, and employs 30 full-time firefighters plus 20 paid-on-call staff and three civilians, Sohn said. Its yearly budget is about $6 million.
Former fire chief Joe Cluchey, 51, retired Feb. 28 after 33 years of service. He now works part-time as state operations section chief for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System in Wheeling.
