Posts Tagged Bolingbrook Fire Department

Bolingbrook announces savings from outsourcing 911 call center

Excerpts from the Chicagotribune.com:

Outsourcing 911 service in November has saved Bolingbrook $319,000 while maintaining excellent response times, officials say. Instead of staffing its own call center, the village is now one of 21 entities under the umbrella of the Western Will County Communication Center, or Wescom.

“The consolidation worked for us, financially, on both the police and fire sides,” said Thomas Ross, Bolingbrook public safety director who serves as chief of both departments. “We’ve calculated that it’s about 22 percent less expensive than running our own 911 call center.”

Nineteen full-time positions with the accompanying overhead of pay benefits were eliminated, but Wescom immediately hired many of those workrs. With a population of more than 73,000, Bolingbrook employs 113 police officers and 86 firefighters.

…  the transition to Wescom was seamless, in part because both used similar telecommunications equipment. Bolingbrook has become Wescom’s busiest client for police calls and second-busiest for fire response, behind Lockport.

Officials say 911 response times have remained steady with increased efficiency through economies of scale.

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Bolingbrook house fire – 12/6/14

This from Dieterich Herndobler:

I followed Station 4 into a fire in Station 5’s area last night (12/6/14) in the 1500 block of Schumaker Drive. If it wasn’t for a series of unfortunate events, I would have been a few minutes earlier when there was still heavy fire showing. Engine 5 arrived and reported a 2-story home with heavy fire from the garage and they would be going into quick attack. For being as cold as it was, I was surprised by the amount of people on the block.

As I parked, flames were seen above the house from around the corner. As I was walking up, Quint 4 was putting the stick up. There was an exposure issue to the north, the siding melted off and the wall charred, looked like it was a good stop and real close to being two houses going. Looked like 3 lines were off, and the hydrant was right in front.

Companies were Engine 5, Engine 2, Quint 4, Truck 1, Engine 3 (arrived late), Medics 2, 3, 4, Battalion 1 all from Bolingbrook, plus Lisle Battalion 51, a Plainfield medic and Naperville Engine 2.
Truck 1 is the new Dash CF 105′ rearmount that has been in service since the summer.
night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

night fire scene

Dieterich Herndobler photo

 

Tags: , , ,

Another municipality to outsource emergency dispatch services

My Suburbanlife.com has an article about a decision to outsource the emergency dispatch for police and fire in Bolingbrook:

Bolingbrook’s police and fire dispatch services will be outsourced this fall.

The Bolingbrook Village Board voted Tuesday to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the Western Will County Communication Center (WESCOM) to take over the services, a move officials say will net the village a savings of $319,000 annually. WESCOM, considered a unit of local government, is a consolidated dispatch service with 19 member agencies across three counties, primarily Will County.

In addition to the savings, WESCOM offers better technology and a larger staff in the event of critical incidents, officials said. The move also follows the State of Illinois’ pro-consolidation stance, according to Bolingbrook Deputy Police Chief Tom Ross.

The agreement calls for the Village of Bolingbrook to pay WESCOM $1.13 million for its first year of membership. That figure is based on a projected number of calls the police and fire departments receive annually. The following years’ fees will be based on call volume as well.

Bolingbrook’s 14 full-time dispatchers and two supervisors will be offered jobs at WESCOM, according to Steve Rauter, executive director of WESCOM.

“We’ve outstretched our hand to take as many of them as Bolingbrook can provide,” Rauter said. “We haven’t heard from all of them yet but several have applied and they seem pretty excited to be coming here.” Any Bolingbrook employees hired on at WESCOM would bring accruals with them, Rauter said, including longevity level for salary purposes, years toward pension and some comp time.

Both entities’ employees are represented by unions. Currently, the 16 Bolingbrook dispatch employees are represented by AFSCME Council 31. WESCOM employees are represented by the Metropolitan Alliance of Police.

thanks Ron

Tags: , , , , , , ,

New area apparatus deliveries

Kevin Griffin found these new area deliveries on the Pierce Flickr site

Byron – Arrow XT pumper/tanker so 27357

Pierce Arrow XT pumper/tanker for Byron

Pierce Arrow XT pumper/tanker for Byron. Pierce composite

Bolingbrook – Pierce Impel PUC engine so 27331

Pierce Impel PUC fire engine

Pierce Impel PUC engine for Bolingbrook Engine 2. Pierce composite

McHenry – Pierce Impel engine so 26553

Pierce Impel fire engine

Pierce Impel engine for McHenry Engine 41. Pierce composite

North Riverside – Pierce Velocity PUC engine so 27595

Pierce Velocity PUC fire engine

New Pierce Velocity PUC for North Riverside Engine 807. Pierce composite

Niles – Pierce Dash CF PUC tower ladder so 27318

Pierce Dash CF tower ladder

Pierce Dash CF PUC tower ladder for Niles Truck 2. Pierce composite

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New engine for Bolingbrook

This from Lucas Hanson

Just passing along a picture (Chris Kochanny photo) of our Engine 2 in production at Pierce. Final inspection is scheduled June 25/26.

Bolingbrook FD Engine 2

New Pierce Impel PUC for Bolingbrook Engine 2. Chris Kochanny photo

Tags: , , , , ,

New truck for Bolingbrook (more)

Pierce delivery photo of the new truck for Bolingbrook

Pierce Velocity PUC quint

Pierce Velocity Dash CF PUC quint for Bolingbrook. Pierce composite

thanks Al

Tags: , ,

New truck for Bolingbrook

This from Dieterich Herndobler:

A friend of mine spied a couple photos of Bolingbrook’s Pierce PUC aerial that is being built and now on the blue floor at Pierce…the photos were posted by a Jeffrey Matthias.

D Herndobler
fire truck

Jeffrey Matthias photo

Pierce Velocity

New fire truck for Bolingbrook. Jeffrey Matthias photo

And this from Lucas Hanson:

Just thought I’d pass along a picture of our new Truck 1 just about complete (anticipating in service in the next month or so), and also our new Engine 2 (which will be a clone of our new Engine 5) which is approximately 30 days out from completion.  These are not my pictures, but a member of ours Jeffrey Matthias.

Enjoy!

Lucas

fire truck

Jeffrey Matthias photo

fire engine being built

New engine in production for Bolingbrook. Jeffrey Matthias photo

Tags: , , , ,

New area apparatus orders

This from Josh Boyajian:

Bolingbrook – 2013 Pierce Dash CF PUC 105′ Aerial Quint 1500/500

Mabas Divison 20 – Marion Body Works 2014 International 7400 Chassis. 27ft Walk Around Technical Rescue Body

Niles – A 2014 Pierce Dash CF PUC 100′ Aerial Platform 1500/300/20

Palatine – 2013 Marion Body Works Spartan Gladiator 20 Inch Raised Roof 20ft walk around Rescue.

Tags: , , , , ,

Area apparatus purchases

This from Josh Boyajian:

River Forest 

  • a Smeal 105′ heavy-duty quint has been purchased and waiting to be placed into service. It will be on display at FRI Friday and Saturday

Leyden FPD 

  • a  2013 Ford F-350 Wheeled Coach ambulance has been completed and will be on display at FRI this weekend

Bensenville FPD

  • a  2013 Ford F-450 Wheeled Coach ambulance has been purchased and will be delivered by the end of the month

Cicero

  • a Pierce Dash CF pumper is being built and will be delivered in February

Bolingbrook

Has approved the purchase of two new units:

  • a Pierce Dash CF ladder truck
  • Pierce Impel engine

Chicago Ridge

  • a 2014 Road Rescue medium-duty ambulance on a TerraStar chassis
Wilmette
  • a 2013 E-One E-Max pumper will be delivered in the next few months
  • a 2013 Ford F-450 squad is being built at Warner Bodies and will be delivered in the next few months
Northfield
  • a 2013 E-One engine is being built on a Cyclone chassis which should be done by end of year
Broadview
  • 2013 E-One pumper has been ordered. Unknown on the specs
Westchester
  • 2013 E-One 21? custom, walk-around rescue on a Typhoon chassis is being built and will be delivered by end of year.
Palos Heights FPD
  •  2013 E-One pumper has been ordered, unknown specs at this time.
Gurnee
  • 2013 Ford F-450 Road Rescue Ultramedic Type I is being built and should be completed by the end of the year
Joliet
  • Their two new engines are completed and ready to be delivered if they weren’t already
Chicago
  • Fire Service Inc. is pleased to announce a multi-year contract with the City of Chicago for airport pumpers. The initial order is for three units. The new units will be E-One Cyclone custom chassis with 2000 GPM Hale pump, Fecon foam system, 1000 gallon water tank and 250 gallon foam tanks with Salisbury Stainless Steel bodies. We look forward to bringing back the E-One product family to the third largest city in the United States.
new E-ONE fire engines for O'Hare Airport
thanks Danny

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Illinois fire chief moves to Green Bay

An article in the Greenbaypressgazette.com introduces former Bolingbrook Fire Chief David Litton as the new fire chief for the Green Bay Fire Department.

A former fire chief in suburban Chicago is headed to Green Bay to take the helm of the Green Bay Metro Fire Department.

David Litton, who served most recently in Bolingbrook, Ill., was chosen from among four finalists to become fire chief after a nationwide search that attracted more than 30 applicants.

Litton, 50, said Friday he is excited to be joining the Green Bay fire department, which he said has a rich history and a talented roster of employees.

“I’m absolutely confident that they’re great people, and I’m looking forward to working with all of them,” he said.

Litton was fire chief in Bolingbrook for five years before the community’s elected leaders this spring named their police chief to oversee both police and fire — a consolidation that Green Bay officials briefly considered last year.

Before Bolingbrook, Litton was fire chief for 13 years in another Chicago suburb, University Park, Ill., where he also served for three years as both fire chief and village manager.

Litton’s salary will be $102,574 a year — the top of the city’s range for the position.

The entire article can be found HERE.

thanks Chris

Tags: , , , , , ,