updated photos of the new quint for the North Palos Fire Protection District
E-ONE photo
E-ONE photo
E-ONE photo
thanks Matt
Archive for category Fire Department News
Excerpts from shawlocal.com:
The McHenry Township Fire Protection District expects 7,400 calls for service in 2022, a 7.6% increase over 2021. Those higher numbers are on top of a 21% increase in overall ambulance calls over the past two years.
And much like the private sector, the fire service is seeing fewer applicants for open positions, longer lead times for equipment, and supply chain slowdowns. Fewer people wanting to become firefighters is part of the reason why, earlier this year, the fire district chose to begin adding full-time firefighters for the first time. The board of trustees voted in December to begin transitioning away from a mostly part-time staff, approving 12 full-time firefighter/paramedics.
In May, they approved another 12 full-time firefighters. They join other full-time office personnel, lieutenants, battalion chiefs, and 90 part-time firefighters rounding out the roster to cover each of the district’s five stations around the clock.
How to replace and staff its ambulances is the next question for the fire district, which covers Bull Valley, Johnsburg, Holiday Hills, Lakemoor, McCullom Lake, McHenry, Ringwood, portions of Wonder Lake and Island Lake, and unincorporated McHenry County.
The fire district requested and received a $361,000 grant from Advance McHenry County to purchase a sixth ambulance to help cover increased calls for service. Five others are on order, part of a seven-year rotation for the vehicles. Two may come in October, ahead of the previous date they had been given, and one in March 2023. Another two, ordered in July, won’t arrive until 2024. When the department does order the grant-funded ambulance, it expects an 18-month to two-year lead time.
Currently, the fire district has seven ambulances. Five active units are at the district’s fire stations and two are kept on standby – for special events and festivals, high call volumes and if one of the other five breaks down.
More ambulance calls are coming with longer transport times. The time it takes to transport a patient to a hospital and return can take from 30 minutes to more than an hour.The district has taken other steps to help reduce those calls.
Falls, lift assists, and mental health evaluations are about a third of the total medical call volume. The district is doing educational programs on avoiding falls plus working with McHenry County social workers, giving input on how to reduce mental health ambulance calls.
COVID-19 changed the call volume, as well.
When the pandemic first hit in March 2020, ambulance calls dropped because patients didn’t want to go to the hospital. By the summer that changed. People who had delayed getting care started needing help. Since March 13, 2020, the district transported 769 people with COVID-19.
thanks Rob
From Sentinel Emergency Solutions:
The Northwest Homer Fire Protection District in Lockport, Illinois took delivery of their SECOND Rosenbauer! This Crossfire pumper joins a 3000-gallon tanker that currently serves the community! THANK YOU Chief Ken Vrba, the firefighters of the Northwest Homer Fire Protection District, and the board of directors for choosing SENTINEL and Rosenbauer Group to build your next fire apparatus! Congratulations on taking delivery of Engine 1711!Features Include:Rosenbauer Commander chassis 78” cab with 11” raised roofRosenbauer EXT aluminum body with LIFETIME WARRANTYRosenbauer sealed lever bank pump controlsRosenbauer safe steps1000 gallons of water1500-GPM pumpFor more information visit our website
Sentinel ES photo
Sentinel ES photo
Sentinel ES photo
Sentinel ES photo
Sentinel ES photo
Found at firetruckmall.com:
Sold to: Lee Community FD – IL2011 Valley Fire International commercial tandem-axle tanker
firetruckmall.com photo
thanks Martin
Excerpts from the patch.com:
Scott Pilafas, who worked as a Clarendon Hills paramedic for 19 years, submitted his resignation April 10. He singled out Fire Chief Brian Leahy for criticism.
“The current leadership in the department has made it unbearable to work,” Pilafas said. “The Chief places value on local department members with minimal experience while undervaluing Firefighter/Paramedics who are needed for the majority of calls… This continues to create a toxic divide in the department.”
In his resignation letter, Pilafas said he was vocal about the fire department not replacing the ladder truck. Leahy and other department leaders strongly favored buying a truck, despite the village manager’s reservations.
“It’s hard to work for leadership that doesn’t respect paramedics and has never had to be a paramedic or walk in our shoes,” Pilafas said in the letter. “You can add me to the list of the over 70 Paramedics that have come through the door in the past 19 years.”
As with all paramedics and firefighters in Clarendon Hills, Pilafas was part time. He is a full-time Chicago firefighter.
Pilafas said the fire department is buying a new ambulance, but may have no one to staff it. He said these staffing problems have occurred while the fire department put its emphasis on a new ladder truck.
In March, Chief Leahy said the village needed paramedics, but said the fire department could cover its ambulance shifts.
Leahy did not return messages for comment left on Monday and Thursday.
thanks Martin
Peoria Fire Department news
Jul 18
Excerpts from fireapparatusmagazine.com:
The Peoria City Council approved $3.2 million for new apparatus, expecting to get the new rigs in 2024.
Interim Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger said the wait times for apparatus can be up to 27 months because of supply chain issues. He told the council that by making a decision and commitment to buy the apparatus now, they will have time to raise and appropriate the funds by the time the apparatus is delivered.
The apparatus that might be replaced include two aerials from 2001 and one from 1994.
thanks Martin
Orland Fire District news
Jul 18
Excerpts from suburbanchicagoland.com:
The Orland Fire Protection District dedicated the “Robert M. Buhs Education & Leadership Development Center” on July 15, 2022 in honor of a former fire chief who officials said was the district’s chief architect.
The Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD) Board of Trustees created the rank of “Fire Chief Emeritus” in recognition of the contributions Buhs made during his 27 years of service.
In ceremony filled with emotion, Buhs was presented with the newly created rank to reflect his role in building the Orland Fire Protection District. A naming plaque was unveiled at the “Buhs Education & Leadership Development Center” located at 10728 W. 163rd Place.
Buhs started his full time career in Orland in 1977. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1981, to deputy chief in 1986, and was first appointed Chief/Administrator in 1988. One of Buhs’ earliest visions was to build a regional training facility. He was one of the first to start training officers and command functions knowing the importance of the unified command. He retired in 2003.
Chief Buhs also served as Executive Director of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association from 1988 until 1999 but continued as a consultant and mentor to many chiefs that have served since that time.
Today, the Orland Fire Protection District is recognized as having a 65 percent save rate for individuals who suffer heart attacks. The national save rate is only 10 to 15 percent. The OFPD is Certified with ISO-1 rating and as an Internationally Accredited Fire Department, one of only 100 in the United States and Canada.
thanks Martin
Another great ending to another productive week here at the Robbins Fire Department. Here’s a look at further production of our new ambulance since last week that’s being built and is almost completed. As we know, our citizens and community deserve nothing but the best and we will definitely continue to strive for it.
thanks Dennis
Harvard fire truck for sale
Jul 16
This from Dennis McGuire, Jr.
Harvard is selling their truck, this is also a X-Pittsburgh, Pa (Engine 27)
2008 Pierce Arrow XT 75′ quint for sale
2008 Pierce Arrow XT 75′ quint for sale
- Stock#: 15981
- 2008
- Pierce body
- Arrow XT Pierce chassis
- GVWR: 56,300
- Seating for 4; 3 SCBA seats
- Mileage: 70,364
- Engine Hours: 8,473
- Caterpillar C13 525 HP Diesel Engine
- Engine Brake
- Allison 4000EVS Automatic Transmission
- Waterous CSU 2000-GPM Side-Mount 1-Stage Pump
- Pump hours: 536
- 500-gallon Polypropylene tank
- 30-gallon foam cell
- Foam Pro System
- Piped for Deck Gun
- 75′ aerial ladder
- Aerial hours: 667
- Air Conditioning
- Federal Q siren
Excerpts from oakpark.com:
River Forest village officials entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (IDHFS) to participate in the Illinois Ground Emergency Medical Transport Program (GEMT) in March 2020. At the July 11 village board meeting, trustees voted unanimously to approve amending the ambulance fees ordinance to meet IDHFS requirements.
GEMT is a federally funded Medicaid program that has been in existence for years but was introduced to Illinois via legislation in 2019. The program allows municipalities an opportunity to collect an additional Medicaid reimbursement for ambulance services, above and beyond what the state reimburses the village for Medicaid claims.
Illinois is one of 10 states participating in the program with over 250 departments in the state joining.
The program provides supplemental federal funding for Advance Life Support (ALS) or Basic Life Support (BLS) emergency ground ambulance service trips under the Illinois Medicaid state plan and provides additional reimbursement for unrecovered costs associated with those transports. Through this program, the federal government will pay the state the difference between the set amount for Medicaid transports and the actual costs incurred by the village.
The village is required to submit an annual Integrated Disclosure and Medicaid Cost Report (IDMCR) to IDHFS to determine the covered ambulance rate for the subsequent year. The intergovernmental agreement eliminates the division between Medicaid ambulance calls and ambulance transportation fees charged to service and managed care organizations. As a result, the village is required to apply the rate structure determined in the annual IDMCR across all users of the village’s ambulance services.
The ordinance change incorporates the requirements outlined in the intergovernmental agreement with a fee structure that is reflected in the annual IDMCR as filed with IDHFS. Amending the ordinance this way will eliminate the need to amend the ordinance whenever the village changes the rates. Under the previous ordinance, River Forest charged residents $900 and nonresidents $1,150 for BLS service and charged residents $1,150 and nonresidents $1,550 for ALS service. Increasing fees required amending the ordinance. Under the change, the fee will reflect the actual cost according to the IDMCR filing.
If the 2022 IDMCR rate had been applied to the 2021 emergency medical service response calls, the village would have recaptured approximately $250,000. After subtracting the state of Illinois program costs, the village would have likely recaptured $125,000 from the program.
Medicare/Medicaid transports account for 16 percent of the department’s ambulance calls but 54 percent of the revenue.
