Several apparatus images representing the Prospect Heights Fire District have been updated. Larry Shapiro attended a training session and had ideal conditions to take shots. Images for the following units have been added:
- Ambulance 9
- Squad 9
- Tanker 9
- Engine 9
- Engine 39
#1 by Drew Smith on August 17, 2012 - 8:20 PM
The daily manning in Prospect Heights is ten 24/7/365: BC, 2 LTs, 7 FFs (of which at least 3 are engineers). Of the 50 members, 15 are full-time and 35 are part-time. All but the fire chief and two FFs are paramedics. While ten are assigned each day, minimum manning is nine and we run at minimum about half the time due to vacations and FLSA work reduction days. For the past seven years we have not paged in any on-call or off-duty members to run calls; we rely on the on-duty staff and automatic aid via RED Center. If we have all companies committed or a company is committed on an out of town fire, we do recall off-shift members, although this usually results on only 1-2 members reporting unless it is a working fire in our town.
The on-duty manpower is assigned as follows: BC in Battalion 9, LT & 2 FFs on Engine 9, 2 FFs on Ambulance 9, and LT and 2 FFs on Engine 39. When the 10th member is on duty he is assigned as a float between the tanker and tower. There are 3 full-time LTs and 8 part-time LTs. There are 6 full-time FFs and 33 part-time FFs. Daily, there are 4 FT members and 6 PT members assigned. Daily company assignments are made by the BC. FT members are not permanently assigned to any one company.
While E9, A9, and E39 are the primary companies and handle much of the calls, the ambulance vehicle never goes on a structure fire or automatic alarm. On AFAs, structure fires, and other such still alarms/general alarms. (RED Center calls them Code 3s) the ambulance crew jumps to either the tanker or truck and is joined by the 10th man when he is on duty. This gives us three, 3-member companies plus the BC on a reported fire. We fill out the assignment with automatic aid.
Typical running cards:
EMS or MVA: A9 & E9 or E39
Pin-in: A9, S9 (E9 crew jumps) and E39 plus auto aid 2nd ambulance
AFA, inside gas leak, oven fire, haz mat: E9, E39 and tanker or tower depending on grid (hydranted vs. non-hydranted)
Reported structure fire (not smell or something burning): E9, E39, tanker or tower, plus auto aid of ambulance, 3rd engine, 2nd tanker, and at least one staff chief.
Aircraft crash: A9, S9, Crash Truck 39 (E39 jumps) and tanker with Wheeling sending all their companies also.(Regardless of location on Chicago Executive Airport [formerly Palwaukee] it’s a joint response with unified command as the airport is jointly owned by the Village of Wheeling and City of PH).
For working fires or special ops (haz mat, TRT and dive) there is additional auto aid before the MABAS box alarm.
When a second ambulance call is received, either E39 will jump to A39 or if they are out of quarters E9 will jump to A9R. The BC will then reconstitute staffing to try and achieve two, 2-member engines until the ambulances are back in town. This happens about 100 times a year. Also, based on stats, the likelihood of a third simultaneous incident is 15 times a year. If a third EMS call occurs, a mutual aid ambulance is requested.
Prior to 2005, we ran with eight all part-time members: 4 at each station each staffing an engine and an ambulance. E39 and A39 did not jump back then as we did not have a crash truck, but frequently we had to drop that staffing to 3 and shut down the ambulance until we could fill in the vacancy caused by a sick call. At Station 9 we kept four members but the minute the ambulance went out we lost the tanker. Getting a replacement truck via RED center was easy but our closet tanker was in Long Grove.
In 2005 we hired our first full-time shift personnel and increased staffing at each station to five, but we still lacked an on-duty battalion chief. In 2009 we rearranged staffing to how it is now, and it has worked well. The goal for the past four years has been to reduce jumping from rig to rig. We have achieved about as much of that as we can given the staffing and that one side of town is basically houses on large lots and unhydranted while the other side of town is all multi-story/multi-family and fully hydranted. We also have the airport tp which we run about 12 incidents a year and average at least one actual crash annually.
No vehicle in the fleet is older than the tower ladder (built by Pierce in 1993) but it only runs about 150 calls a year because it only goes on AFAs and reported fires in hydranted areas (and occasional box alarms). We just (this past week) replaced the turntable swivel at a cost of $15,000. Our main two strategies right now are 1) how to try and get minimum staffing to ten 24/7/365 (this = $$$) and 2) planning total fleet replacement which starts in 2014/2015 and runs for 3-5 years.
#2 by Bill Post on August 17, 2012 - 7:14 PM
What is the manning situation in Prospect Heights? I know that there are full timers and part timers but are engine, squad and Truck 9 always in service? Are the engine and squad jump companies or are any of them in service only during certain hours making them in effect part time? What is your minimum manning and how do you run the companies? Do you have enough full timers to run at least some of the companies in both stations? I would imagine that you would at the very least need to be able to run the ambulances and the engines or the squad out of each station for 24 hours. What do you send on a structure fire (still alarm)? Thanks
#3 by Drew Smith on August 17, 2012 - 11:46 AM
Because we had only one station in 1981 when we joined RED Center. In 1995 when we opened the second station, 39 was the next available number in the Division 3 numbering scheme. The old naval air station was 19 and we wanted that number, but Deerfield had already claimed it in anticipation of their second station opening. Glenview also has a similar gap in their numbers.
#4 by chris r on August 17, 2012 - 8:22 AM
How come prospect hgts sta 9 and prospect hgts sta 2 is 39 , why are they numbered so different .