Dennis McGuire, Jr. found an article HERE in the Tinley Park Patch which discusses the staffing for the Tinley Park Fire Department and how that has changed throughout the years to evolve from a complete volunteer department to one that utilizes part-time employees in addition to a few full-time staff members. Excerpts from the article are below:

The Tinley Park department is no exception, Fire Chief Ken Dunn said Tuesday. It started in 1901 solely as a volunteer organization.

But today, crews respond to about 2,000 calls each year. A total of 104 part-time firefighters make up the department’s staff, with about 15 more expected to sign on soon.

“The part-time program was set up so we’d always have people available to respond more quickly than if they were coming from home,” he said, adding that the shift structure was put in place in 2000.

Dunn, Senior Fire Inspector Dan Riordan and two secretaries are the only full-time employees, officials said. The remaining part-timers have a monthly obligation to work at least 36 hours.

That hourly quota will remain the same after pending staffing changes at the village’s four stations. Right now, there is a four-person crew at station 4, a three person crew at station 3 and a four person crew at station 4. Station 2 is not regularly manned, Dunn said.

Some bills are paid for through the department’s nonprofit organization, the Tinley Park Fire Department Association— a group that helps defray the cost of equipment. Annual fundraisers help generate that money, said Riordan, who leads a lot of community outreach efforts.

He’s also responsible for inspecting every commercial and residential unit in Tinley, totaling about 3,000 checks each year and accounting for about 32 million square feet.

“A fire department that doesn’t educate and inspect for fire prevention … that’s a huge mistake for a community,” Dunn said. “We do believe that our active fire prevention bureau does save both lives and extreme costs from a fire.”

Tags: Dennis McGuire Jr., part-time firefighters, Tinley Park Fire Department, volunteer staffing