Archive for March 3rd, 2017

Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Department news

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Glen Ellyn trustees plan to increase monthly fire service fees to pay for operational costs and to establish a reserve fund for building projects at the village’s two stations.

Trustees expressed initial support Monday night for the higher rates for five categories of property owners. The fee for homeowners would increase from $7.50 to $15 a month. The charge for businesses of less than 20,000 square feet would double to $16 a month.

With the raises, the village expects the new fees would generate about $1.6 million annually for the fire company, an anomaly in the suburb that leaves firefighting to about 60 volunteers who are each paid $1 a year. The company also stands to receive $151,500 this year from two special taxing districts.

The extra revenue would allow the village to set aside nearly $750,000 annually in a fund that could help pay for the possible replacement of the downtown fire station in the next decade and improvements at the Taft Avenue station.

The board could commission a space study into both village-owned buildings later this year and get the findings in 2018. Station No. 1 at Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue is the older one and opened in the 1950s.

Financial planners also have recommended allocating about $400,000 annually for equipment costs. One decision on the horizon later this spring is whether to buy a new ladder truck.

The fees now yield a total of about $803,000 annually for the fire company. Operations alone are expected to cost roughly $700,000 this year.

The village imposed the fees almost three years ago to replace a long-running donation program for the fire company. Only about 20 percent of property owners were contributing to the program.

Initial revenue projections at the time showed the village collecting roughly $70,000 in fees from property owners in an area largely east of I-355 and north of Roosevelt Road. But those owners already pay property taxes to a paper fire protection district that contracts out fire service to the Village of Lombard.

Glen Ellyn officials caught the error before sending out the first bills.

The board could vote on the proposed increases as early as March 20. The higher fire service fees would tentatively show up on water bills in June.

thanks Dan

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New tanker for Fox Lake (more)

Updated production photos of the tanker being built for Fox Lake by Alexis.

fire truck being built

Alexis Fire Apparatus photo

fire truck being built

Alexis Fire Apparatus photo

fire truck being built

Alexis Fire Apparatus photo

fire truck being built

Alexis Fire Apparatus photo

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Waukegan Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The Waukegan Fire Department has seen a turnover from highly experienced firefighters to younger ones in recent years, and at the same time, they are responding to fewer fires even though the call volume continues to increase.

Fire Chief George Bridges has emphasized training over the last 10 months, and recently, the department was given the go-ahead to use an old office building at 2634 Grand Ave. for drills. The structure has been empty for a few years and is a concern for neighbors, because homeless people or drug users would sometimes break in or use a rear stairway and landing area.

The owners are Howard and Ronnie Stillman, who have purchased and rehabilitated used car dealerships in the city and another office building at McAree Court. Their plans are to tear the medical building down and offer the property for redevelopment.

According to Bridges, a third of the department’s personnel has less than 10 years of experience, and 17 percent of the firefighters have less than five years on the job.

Fire Marshall Steven Lenzi said the office building has been perfect for training because it isn’t often firefighters can practice breaking through locked doors, “and there are a lot of those,” he said. The department does have a door simulator at one of the firehouses, but it’s not the same.

The building also offered multiple connected rooms and waiting rooms that provide a sort of maze for the firefighters to go through when the building is charged with artificial smoke from a machine to the point you can’t see someone standing next to you.

Firefighters still have to use a hose as a way to find their way back out, or when there are many rooms, they leave a firefighter in a doorway and he’s called “orientated man,” said Battalion Chief Brett Stickels, who in charge of training.

The training includes live radio traffic and sending one crew to find the fire where they carry a charged waterline. Another two crews are sent in to search for 175-pound dummies.

The fire marshal added that besides giving the younger firefighters training, this recent opportunity also gave mid-career firefighters who have been promoted and have taken over leading the crews a chance to practice with them in full gear with a fully charged line and zero visibility.

Lenzi said the department has gone from 150 fires a year to just fewer than 100, but its call volume has increased 10 percent. He added that even though crews are still busy, actual fire experience is harder to come by, making simulations more critical.

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Chicago Fire Department news

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