Excerpts from peoriapublicradio.org:
One week after voting down a plan to borrow $10 million and decommission two fire engines to balance Peoria’s budget, a divided city council has approved the proposal. The city staff’s recommended budget restructuring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic passed on a 6-5 count. Four council members remained opposed to the fire cuts. One said the cuts will damage Peoria’s ability to provide the safety a city of its size requires.
The engines slated to be cut are Engine 4 from the south side’s Jefferson station and Engine 20 on Wilhelm in the far north area of the city. Along with the engine cuts, 17 firefighter positions will be eliminated, however five firefighters accepting the voluntary separation incentive passed last week could reduce the number of layoffs.
#1 by MABAS 21 on September 7, 2020 - 12:21 PM
Michael M,
Not being from that area, but from what I understand regarding Bloomington, they planned on opening their newest station, #5, which was built in a new subdivision in the northwest section of town. The City was banking on tons of development in that area due to the Mitsubishi plant in Normal. Expected were business parks, manufacturing, warehouses/distributors, retail and residential development. But with the recession and then in November of 2015 that plant closed down and everything planned came to a screeching halt. The Mitsubishi Motorway (Rte 150) was supposed to expand south to 6 Points Rd allowing everything to transpire.
A new auto manufacturer, RIVIAN, purchased the plant in 2019 and has been remodeling and adding on to the former facility. It is unknown if any of the development plans in that area of Normal/Bloomington will go though at this point of time. The residential subdivision surrounding the never opened Station 5 hasn’t grew any larger to my knowledge. It is unknown if that fire house will ever open in the future.
#2 by Michael m on September 7, 2020 - 1:10 AM
Cairo illinois population is now just over 2,000. That is stupid that they can only afford 1 full time firefighter. In 1990 Cairo’s population was 5,000.
The only towns that I found that have gained people in the last 30 years are Bloomington which went from 50,000 in 1990 to 77,000 today. Normal also appears to have gained population over that same time period. I know Bloomington has five fire stations up from 4, question I have is the area that would have been covered by Station 5, is that part of the city still growing? Has that area gotten to the point where the 5th station would be warranted?
#3 by Michael m on September 7, 2020 - 1:00 AM
Decatur Illinois went from 85,000 in 1990 to 71,000 today. Same question how many fire stations and rigs do you need to protect 71,000? What these communities need to do is bring in good paying jobs so people don’t need to leave!
#4 by Michael m on September 7, 2020 - 12:56 AM
East St.Louis illinois according to census data I was able to locate went from 40,000 in 1990 to just over 23,000 today. Do you really need 8 fire houses to protect 23,000 people?
#5 by Michael m on September 7, 2020 - 12:51 AM
I was a student at Bradley for four years from 2001 to May of 2005. The Peoria FD was on campus regularly responding to alarms on campus. People who do not want their taxes to go up need to realize that their safety may be put in jeopardy due to cuts in police and fire departments. They really need to ask themselves do I want to have to risk my family’s safety as well as my personal property because I do not want to pay more in taxes? What if there was a fire God forbid in one of Bradley dorms? Engines 1,2 and 3 along with trucks 1,3 and 4 and rescue 1 would always respond to campus for any fire related emergency. Engine 3 would always respond for any medical emergency on campus as well. Peoria like a lot of midwestern cities has unfortunately lost population over several decades. Peoria had almost 200,000 people at one point 50 years ago, in the early 2000’s it was around 110,000, I am sure it is less than that now.
Why not just determine which areas of the city are mostly abandoned and close the fire companies in those areas? I am sure the Bradley area, and the north side where Engine 20 is are still populated areas, though Bradley lost 5,000 students when campus closed this past spring.
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#6 by tom on September 2, 2020 - 9:49 PM
I love how we are able to talk about whether Chicago is putting pipes on their new ladders but when it comes down to the serious topic of cutting necessary staffing everyone turns a blind eye. This is such a large issue in many communities in Illinois. Whether it is near the city, in the suburbs, down south, or out west there are departments struggling. East St. Louis once had 8 firehouses. They are now down to 2 stations with three guys each. Cairo Illinois has 1 guy on by himself. Decatur and Macomb have closed stations. Peoria in the past year has eliminated 46 positions in 4 years. They got rid of their 2 squad/rescue companies last year and now this year 2 engines. Bloomington was unable to open a brand new station up. Bensenville has reduced staffing and sold a ladder truck. Many south suburban departments struggle to get 2 guys on an engine. This is an issue in the fire service nobody wants to talk about. Volunteer communities struggle to get able, trained people to get a rig out the door. Many volunteer agencies have a large amount of age 60+ members who are not used to the rigorous firefighting tasks coupled with young people who are either busy with life, and/or not trained to the right level to effectively get the job done. It is a problem that is not going to just go away; and it will continue to happen if we as members of this profession continue to turn a blind eye. I am not saying I have all the answers, or even just one single answer, but a conversation would be a nice start.
#7 by Michael m on September 2, 2020 - 3:00 PM
True very sad. The city has lost a major tax base within the last three years when Caterpiller moved their corporate headquarters out of Peoria.
Manufacturing is still in Peoria but all the CAT big wigs are no longer in Peoria. I believe the extrication equipment was on the squad companies. I wonder which companies carry the extrication equipment now.
#8 by Tom on September 2, 2020 - 2:46 PM
This is sad, they closed both squad companies last year. This will probably be more common in other large cities in Illinois.