From Douglas Duncan
Douglas Duncan photo
Archive for category FIre Stations
This from Dan McInerney:
Here are some pics of the soon to be completed Highland Park Station 32, home of Engine/Ambulance 32 in the Ravinia neighborhood of Highland Park.
Dan McInerney photo
Dan McInerney photo
Dan McInerney photo
Dan McInerney photo
Dan McInerney photo
Aurora Fire Department news
Apr 21
Excerpts from fireapparatusmagazine.com:
In 2022, the Aurora Fire Department saw the highest number of calls for service in its history with 21,881 calls, nearly a 14% increase over the past five years.
By 2025, the department is looking to add a new fire station, an engine company, two new medic units, and 52 staff members. Officials were already planning a new station on the northeast side but a planned move of the casino to that part of the city solidified that need.
The department’s new 10th station is planned for a site directly behind the Chicago Premium Outlets mall at Bilter Road and Nan Street. Ground is expected to be broken this summer for the project, with the station opening next year.
Station 4 will be relocated to the east of the Aurora Police Department on Indian Trail and will become the fire department’s administrative headquarters. The current station at 800 Michels Ave. is at the end of its life and can no longer fit most engines.
Station 9 will move from 2339 Diehl Road to a new location on Eola Road at a location to be determined between Liberty Street and North Aurora Road.
The department is aiming to break ground at the new sites for Station 4 and Station 9 in 2024.
They expects to see an additional 1,000 calls per year once the 169-home Del Webb 55-year-old and older community now being developed is complete on the city’s far southeast side, and plan to add an additional ambulance in 2025 at Station 12 to meet the expected increased in demand in that part of Aurora.
While hiring has remained a challenge because of a nationwide shortage of firefighters, the department plans to hire 26 people in its spring academy that ends in June and run an additional fall academy, bringing 10 to 15 additional hires. This will help move the department to its goal of 265 personnel by 2025.
thanks Rob
Rendering of the new Fire Station 24 in Wheeling
Excerpts from the journal-topics.com:
Wheeling trustees unanimously approved construction for Fire Station 42 to be rebuilt at 135 McHenry Rd. with a maximum price tag of $7,699,244. Village officials say they have saved the money to make this happen, and would not need the support of taxpayers by referendum or lenders. Wheeling has been saving funds for this since 2019. Based on call volume and call location studies, the village needed to have two stations on the west side of the railroad tracks.
The project was introduced with a budget goal of $5 million, but flood detention fix costs exceeded the $5 million, prompting a higher expected cost. Construction on the 10,700 sq. ft. building should to break ground this spring and take a year to complete.
The new station will be substantially the same as Fire Station 23 at 780 S. Wheeling Rd. Since 2009, the current Station 42 has been shared with the Wheeling Police Department on Dundee Road. It was meant to be a temporary solution.
thanks Andy
Excerpts from the herald-review.com:
On Saturday, community members were invited to walk through Decatur’s Fire Station 3 one last time during an open house organized by History of the Heartland, a sponsor of community events highlighting historic preservation and stories of Macon County structures and people.
Several current firefighters stopped by the open house to reminisce. The amount of work and the size of the building were what made the station a popular house for the firefighters. Mark Allen, a retired firefighter that worked at the station in the past, displayed several pieces of fire memorabilia during Saturday’s event including equipment and uniforms that dated back nearly 60 years.
The station was one of the older and smaller fire houses in Decatur before the city began building larger facilities a few years ago. Firefighters moved to their new location around the corner on Fairview Plaza a year ago.
A local businessman is in the process of purchasing the nearly 100-year-old building. Although the location and aesthetics of the station were enticing, he will be changing several details. The lower level will be expanded 45 feet into the lot west of the building. Other buildings he owns are being used for construction materials and business-related items, so he plans to store several of his vehicles in the old fire station. Plans for the upper level will include three executive-level apartments.
Kenosha firefighters have moved into their new Station 4, which is located on the site of their former station. This substantially larger building houses their fleet maintenance shop on the left side and has the training facility behind it.
Current apparatus located here are Engine and Med 4, Rescue 44 (BLS) and the BC along with 2 reserve engines, the reserve truck (Ex Tower 7) and the reserve BC.
Station 7 has the newest Sutphen quint, which was delivered as Truck 4 and has been reassigned as Truck 7.
This from Zach Cox:
Check out my pictures of the new Pingree Grove Countryside Fire Station 1 Headquarters. The station is expected to open in about a month.
Zach Cox photo
Zach Cox photo
Zach Cox photo
Excerpts from pekintimes.com:
In the hope of reducing response time, the East Peoria Fire Department plans to add a fourth fire station at 2001 Centennial Drive, near the entrance to Illinois Central College.
The cost of the project is still to be determined, however the city has received a total of $1.9 million in grants from the state. The city is expected to seek bids for the contract later this summer with hopes that construction will begin this fall.
The timeline for completion of the new fire station will depend on the weather, but the fire.department is hoping the facility will be operational by the summer or fall of 2023.
thanks Martin
New use for old firehouse
Mar 26
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Once the location for fire trucks and ambulances — and maybe even firehouse chili — the shuttered downtown Rolling Meadows fire station could be converted into a food hall that developers hope could become a destination in the Northwest suburbs.
Coaction Corp. has proposed purchasing the 64-year-old former Station 15 at 3111 Meadow Drive from the city and turning it into The Firehall, an eatery with six booths that would be leased to independent vendors and restaurants, including local craft beer brewer Leaky Keg. Other tenants could include a Thai restaurant, a charcuterie booth, a cocktail bar and a bakery/coffee shop.
Coaction has submitted preliminary floor and site plans to city hall, and on Tuesday night, the company publicly unveiled the concept during a city council committee-of-the-whole meeting.
Under the preliminary plans, restaurants would rent booth spaces ranging in size from 100 to 500 square feet on the ground floor. Tables and chairs would be throughout the hall, along with picnic tables with umbrellas for dining outside the three firehouse garage doors.
A proposed phase two calls for the opening of a cocktail bar on the second floor owned and operated by Coaction called Hosed, which would serve mixed drinks, wine and liquor; and the relocation of Leaky Keg and doubling of the dining space.
The two-story, 5,400-square-foot brick building has been on the market for nearly two years. It was decommissioned in December 2019 when the new $5.8 million, 11,925-square-foot Station 15 opened along Algonquin Road.
The online real estate ad, which lists the property for sale at $549,000, makes reference to the city’s 2019 comprehensive plan that recommends a commercial adaptive reuse of the old firehouse with a possible restaurant. In fact, the planning document includes one such example of a former firehouse-turned-brew pub: The Firehouse Grill, which is inside a restored early 1900s firehouse in Evanston.
The owners would also offer vendors a centralized catering manager as a way to gain additional revenue.
thanks Drew
Excerpts from wifr.com:
In 2021, the Loves Park Fire Department responded to 1,211 calls in one area of the city alone without a fire station. On Monday night, the city board approved a $1.5 million deal for a third fire station on Rock Valley Parkway on Loves Park’s east side to significantly decrease the response time to calls in that area. The third station will house an ambulance and engine.
The district’s first station, which has been in Loves Park since 1947, is located at 400 Grand Ave. Their second station is at 1527 Windsor Rd. Once the third station opens, the station on Grand Ave. will be turned into public works storage because of the census count in this part of the city, and the fact that the building can’t hold the current emergency vehicles.
According to the Insurance Services Office, a new station could lead to a decrease in premium costs, such as a few $100 dollars for residents.
The new station should be closed on within the next month, followed by another month of moving equipment and vehicles into the new space. The third station should be open by May 2022.
