Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:
Franklin Park Fire Chief Steve Iovinelli is retiring.
“On Sept. 29, 1980, I started my career with the Franklin Park Fire Department. I’ll be completing my journey retiring on my 35th anniversary,” Iovinelli said.
Before joining the department, Iovinelli had been working alongside his father at a heating and air conditioning company. In his mid-20s he said he saw an ad for the Franklin Park Fire Department and after passing the fire exam, began a career that spanned over three decades with Franklin Park.
In his time with the department, he’s served as secretary of its pension board for 21 years and has worked to stay current as a paramedic in good standing with Loyola University. In June of 2010, he became the department’s interim fire chief before being officially appointed to the position in September later that year. Iovinelli is described as having the respect and admiration of rank and file members of the department and knowledge as a firefighter and fire chief that Village President Barrett Pedersen called astronomical.
During his time as chief, Iovinelli was able to successfully pursue over a million dollars of grants for the village and oversee an initiative to have the village’s fire department go back to offering paramedic services, a move he said allowed the village to save money by not outsourcing it to private companies.
Battalion Chief Bill Brehm, who’s been with the department since 1993, will succeed Iovinelli as Franklin Park’s new fire chief.
#1 by harry on October 2, 2015 - 4:29 PM
well e1 is still staffed by 3 or 4 ff l2 2-3 and amb 2 and the bc 1
#2 by harry on October 1, 2015 - 7:31 PM
yes he did close a fire house but the staffing level was low and really not a lot of calls on that side of town so i say it was likely a good way to save the taxpayers which is good however station 2 has an engine and it is frontline when needed a jump co ladder or engine which postions were let go because e3 a2 were a jump co it used to have 3 on the engine then down to 2 so they ran the eng or ambo depending on call
#3 by mike on October 2, 2015 - 6:57 AM
How did it save the taxpayers money by closing a firehouse? Where they rebated their taxes for less service? This is about response time and available personnel. Yes Rey have lost positions, the engines used to be manned with 3 and the truck manned with 4. Now everything is manned with 2.
#4 by harry on September 30, 2015 - 9:31 PM
congratulations Fire Chief Iovinelli on your retirement hope you enjoy what you do and thank you for putting my name on the back of 490 and thank u for being a great fire chief and friend also it was awesome u were able to get the village 3 new ambulances 2 engines 1 car in the 5 years u were chief and i will truly miss talking with u
#5 by mike on September 30, 2015 - 10:01 PM
He also managed to let many positions be lost due to attrition, close a firehouse, take an engine out of service and cause many grievances and ULPs within the union. The same union he was a past president and helped build up he has tried to dismantle. Good bye Steve no one is going to miss you