Archive for June 5th, 2019

Rockford Fire Department news

Excerpts from mystateline.com:

Rockford’s oldest firefighter, Max Kirschbaum, passed away over the weekend. He became a Rockford firefighter in 1948, serving on the rescue squad at Fire Station 3. 

One of his biggest feats was saving a little boy who fell 75 feet down a well. Once he retired from the fire department, he stopped back in to visit with friends. In 2015 he went to the open house for the new Fire Station 3.

He is survived by two daughters, a son, and seven great grand children who grew up hearing stories about Max playing chess in the fire house. 

Funeral arrangements can be found HERE.

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New engine for Countryside FPD (more)

Wet down and push in for new Countryside FPD fire engine

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New Chicago FD Fleet Maintenance facilities (more)

New Chicago FD Fleet Maintenance facilities

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Sycamore Fire Department news (more

Excerpts from the daily-chronicle.com:

The Sycamore City Council unanimously approved a consideration to buy a replacement fire engine through a purchasing cooperative agreement during its meeting Monday. The department will work with one of two cooperatives to purchase an engine with a water capacity of 3,000 gallons for an estimated $550,000. It will replace the 30-year-old Engine 4.

Engine 4 was purchased in 1989 and was meant for rural communities because of the truck’s high water capacity. Now faced with a growing rural population, the department needs a newer truck that can hold even more. The department will sell Engine 4 to offset the cost of the half-million-dollar truck it plans to purchase. The city and the fire protection district will also provide $365,000.

The agreement will allow the department to work with Texas-based HGACBuy or Minnesota-based Sourcewell to secure a cheaper price on a Rosenbauer pumper-tanker. A previous purchasing cooperative agreement saved the fire department $5,000 on an ambulance.

Sycamore firefighters responded at 3 a.m. Saturday to a fire at a Sycamore home. No injuries were reported, but the fire was estimated to have caused $150,000 in damage. Assistant Fire Chief Todd Turner told council members that it didn’t matter whether firefighters who responded to Saturday morning’s fire had a new truck, they would have run out of water. However, an engine with a higher capacity than Engine 4’s 2,000 gallons would have helped.

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