Excerpts from rrstar.com:
The Loves Park city council is considering bolstering its volunteer fire department with a daytime crew the city hopes can improve response times that are twice those of the neighboring North Park Fire Protection District.
Loves Park’s approximately 35 volunteer firefighters now respond from their homes when calls come in, a practice fire officials say explains their slower response times. To cut down on the time it takes to reach a fire, the city will work toward having three firefighters, along with two supervisors, staff its 400 Grand Ave. station from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., perhaps as early as August.
The firefighters would be paid $12 to $20 an hour depending on their experience. Because they would average 28 hours a week, there would be no health insurance benefits to finance. The move would cost the city up to $200,000 annually.
A review of response times for the first three months of the year shows Loves Park’s average response time was 15.2 minutes, compared with 6 minutes for neighboring North Park, which covers the southern half of Machesney Park and portions of unincorporated Winnebago County. Response times didn’t differ much by time of day.
Hiring the day crew would increase the fire department’s annual budget by 33 percent, pushing it to $1 million a year.
They were 27 minutes to 7349 Chucks Way and 24 minutes to both 12414 Kings Point Dr. and 5625 Covey Ridge Trail.
The three-month review also showed the benefits of a new auto aid agreement struck in February between the Loves Park and North Park fire agencies. Average response times dropped to 13.3 minutes in March, compared with 17.6 minutes that same month of February and 15.3 minutes in January.
Even with the North Park partnership and the addition of a day crew, Loves Park’s logistics challenges will be far from over. The mayor wants the city to build a new fire station estimated to cost about $5 million to continue working on response times near Mercyhealth Sportscore Two and the Mercyhealth Hospital and Trauma Center under construction at the junction of East Riverside Boulevard and Interstate 90.
Because Loves Park doesn’t levy a property tax, its options for financing are limited to bonding or going to the voters for some form of tax revenues that would finance the construction.
#1 by Matthew G on June 27, 2018 - 5:28 PM
Michael M, Metro is Loves Park’s 911 transport. OSF Lifeline is their first call back up, with ATS and Superior and other agencies filling in the gaps if things get very busy.
#2 by Michael M on June 27, 2018 - 11:49 AM
By the way, I do know that Cherry Valley recently took delivery of a 2018 Pierce Enforcer PUC engine. This engine replaces a 30 year old engine! WOW they really needed a new engine!
#3 by Michael M on June 27, 2018 - 11:48 AM
Who is the private ambulance service that covers Loves Park? I worked in the area for three years and I know that OSF Lifeline Ambulance covers 911 calls for Machesney Park and Belvidere, I would assume they also cover 911 calls for Loves Park.
Glad to see changes are being made, sounds like they are behind the 8 ball.
#4 by J. C. on June 27, 2018 - 10:09 AM
I have worked as a firefighter in the area and can provide a little insight to the situation.
The department is going through a much need transition from the previous administration. They have for many years been only a “Fire Department” meaning they would not respond to accidents unless there was Confirmed Fire or Extraction and they would not respond to medical calls period, to the point where neighboring fire departments would respond into their town to help the private ambulance. They also had absolutely no auto aid and the previous chief would not call for help until he had waited 7 to 10 mins for his guys to go enroute.
The area they cover is Urban/Suburban and with the department begin Paid on Call with no staffing, this can cause it to take members quite a long time to just get to the station. Now someone will say ,well why don’t they do station coverage shifts like some other volly and POC department, the members under the previous administration have asked to do this to improve times and were flat out told no by the previous chief. Another item that puts them behind the eight ball is that there city if wider east to west that it is tall north to south, also there firehouse are located well to the west as the last one was built before the city expanded east. There are areas of the city that are more than 7 miles from a firehouse. So coupling the extended time to the station and the extended travel times the guys are behind the eight ball before the tones even drop.
They recently had a new mayor elected and he has hire a new full time chief and deputy chief. These chiefs are trying to correct years of mismanagement and lack of advancement. They have ordered new turnout gear(Much of what they were using was out of date), they have implemented auto aid agreements, they are allowing members to stay at the stations whenever they like. These are already improving there response times and member safety.
This day crew will do great things for this department as they can only go up from here. What I found in my time working with them is that these were a bunch of dedicated, hard working guys who were being held back by a chief who was stuck in the past.
#5 by Mike on June 26, 2018 - 9:47 PM
Calm down mike, the last 2 comments were sarcasm. The first comment about response times being embarrassing though. Yes, a 27 minute response time is unacceptable. It doesn’t matter if you run 1 call a year or 1,000,000. If you can’t reapond in a timely manner then things need to change. Loves park isn’t rural and it isn’t that big of an area. 27 minutes is unacceptable.
#6 by lisbon seward resident on June 26, 2018 - 7:25 PM
Our community in South
Eastern Kendall County relies 100% on volunteers that do not receive one cent for all their time spent on calls, training, fundraisers, etc. The only perk is a free meal once a year, paid for, I believe by the trustees. Heaven forbid the outcome if this community would loose its volunteers and yes, Mike, I will see you at their next pancake dinner, March, 2019
#7 by Mike on June 26, 2018 - 4:59 PM
Mike-Not sure when it became acceptable to cut down a volunteer firefighter. These men and women selflessly give their time to help their community, and to make such a dismissive statement to people who donate their time and risk their lives for free is unacceptable.
Over 75% of this country’s firefighters are volunteer and not every town needs or can afford the costs of a 24/7 fire department.
I would encourage you to use caution the next time you wish to put down a volunteer.
#8 by Mike on June 26, 2018 - 3:12 PM
Those response times are embarrassing. Thank you for your service. See you at the next pancake breakfast.