From the Chicago Ridge Fire Department on Facebook:
A friend shared pictures of Chicago Ridge’s old engine 6533. It is being used on the set of Chicago Fire.
Posts Tagged Chicago Ridge Fire Department
From Chicagoland_fire_photos on instagram:
Chicago ridge fd station 1 visit
Home to-
Truck 3 (out for service)Engine 6513Ambo 6512Ambo 6522Battalion 7Car 6518Utility 6538Fire inspector’s carMabas div 21 foam trailerAlso an engine with no equipment from legacy fire apparatus as a spare for the truck but they’re just using 6513
Chicagoland_fire_photos on instagram
From the Fire Service, Inc. Facebook page:
Congratulations Chicago Ridge Fire Department on the recent delivery of a new 2020 Road Rescue Emergency Vehicles remount provided by REV Group, Inc. Solutions!
We would like to thank Chief William Bonnar, the members of the CRFD, & the Village of Chicago Ridge for their continued support.
Specs: Ford F-550 chassis, 7.3L gas engine, Liquid Spring Suspension System, Zico Electric O2 bottle lift, & AliArc heavy duty grill-guard
Fire Service, Inc photo
From the Chicago Ridge Police Department Facebook page:
When you wear DIFFERENT uniforms, but play for the SAME team … No matter the PATCH, we are all still FAMILY!
Thank you to the men in RED for quickly putting out the house fire on Oxford and Washington this afternoon. The Chicago Ridge Fire Department had assistance from multiples agencies – North Palos FD, Burbank FD, Bedford Park FD, Bridgeview FD, and Oak Lawn FD.
Officer Kaspar and Officer Jenen assisted the home owner in removing their 2 dogs. After the fire was extinguished their 2 cats were found safe. No one was hurt in the house fire.
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Chicago Ridge Police Department photo
Reserve engine recently placed in service for the Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District
Engine 1812 – 1988 Spartan Gladiator/E-ONE 1500/500 X-River Grove, X-Chicago Ridge
Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District Engine 181. 1988 Spartan/E-ONE 1500/500 x-River Grove, x-Chicago Ridge. Scott Sutherland photo
Chicago Ridge FD Engine 6533. Larry Shapiro photo
This from Mike Summa:
Here is a photo of Chicago Ridge Engine 3, a 1950’s Mack B. Picture taken off the Ridge’s facebook. Identity of firemen not known. I was surprised, as I did not know Chicago Ridge was a Fire Protection District. Enjoy and comment.Mike Summa
photo from the Chicago Ridge FPD Facebook page
Chicago Ridge FD news
Jun 22
From a reader:
Brand new Chicago Ridge Battalion 6
Brand new Chicago Ridge Battalion 6
Excerpts from the reporteronline.net:
Oak Lawn and Chicago Ridge have shared a fire chief since 2014, and by mutual agreement between the neighboring villages, Chief George Sheets will continue wearing two hats for at least four more years.
The Oak Lawn Village Board passed the new intergovernmental agreement to continue the arrangement last week without much comment, and the Chicago Ridge Village Board followed suit at its meeting on Tuesday.
Oak Lawn, being the larger community, covers two-thirds of Sheets’ salary, in addition to benefits, and Chicago Ridge is responsible for one-third. The exact salary agreement was not available this week, but it costs the Chicago Ridge about $50,000 annually. Sheets, who lives in Oak Lawn, said the agreement calls for the Chicago Ridge portion of the salary to increase by 5 percent each year.
The relationship between management and members of the firefighters union in Oak Lawn has been difficult at times in recent years, primarily due to staffing and other issues that have led to lawsuits. But everyone in Chicago Ridge seems to agree that having Sheets on board has worked out very well.
Prior to the vote on Tuesday, Chicago Ridge Fire Lt. Chris Schmelzer, president of the Chicago Ridge Firefighters Union Local 3098, sent Tokar a glowing recommendation letter regarding Sheets’ value to the department, and asked him to share it with the trustees.
Schmelzer cited several accomplishments that have been achieved under Sheets’ leadership in Chicago Ridge, including the introduction of a part-time firefighter program in which part-time and full-time staff work together. This has also allowed for the opening of the Lombard Avenue fire station. That station initially opened part-time, but was expanded to full-time this year, providing ambulance service to the main residential section of the village.
Last year, there was talk that he might leave the Chicago Ridge role after seeing projects through to completion, including the part-time program and the opening of the Lombard Avenue station.
He splits his days between the two villages, and their close proximity allows him to travel between his offices quickly.
thanks Dan
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
A long-shuttered Chicago Ridge fire station that reopened with limited hours in spring 2015 will begin operating around the clock beginning Feb. 1.
Mayor Charles Tokar said the full return of the village’s Lombard Avenue station, located at 107th Street and Lombard in the heart of Chicago Ridge’s residential district, will improve emergency response times and bring revenue to the village.
The Lombard Avenue station, which was built by volunteer firefighters in the 1950s was being used primarily for training and equipment storage until reopening part-time in April 2015 to supplement the department’s headquarters on Virginia Avenue in the village’s industrial park. That station is staffed 24 hours.
Since reopening, the Lombard Avenue station has been staffed 12 hours a day by two or three people with an ambulance.
It took nearly two years to get the station ready for 24-hour coverage due to a combination adding windows and a fire alarm system that meets code plus Fire Chief George Sheets’ desire to evaluate how operations at the station were working.
Sheets said the ability to deploy an ambulance from the Lombard Avenue station has worked extremely well, cutting response times by two or more minutes in some cases, which in medical emergencies can be the difference between life and death.
Because a patient’s insurance provider reimburses the town whose ambulance service makes the hospital transport, Chicago Ridge was losing out on revenue when another municipality picked up emergency calls in the heavily residential southeastern side of town.
The Lombard Avenue station will only provide an ambulance in the short-term, even after going to 24 hours. The department plans to begin running an engine from that station within the next year.
Prior to that time, the station’s ambulance will be equipped with a Fit-5 fire interruption device — a relatively new technology that’s been compared to a handheld fire suppression grenade – that can be tossed into a burning building and act as an extinguishing agent.
Sheets said he doesn’t anticipate increasing staffing at the Lombard Avenue station and plans to run it as a jump company, which can respond with either the ambulance or the engine depending on the type and location of the call.
Both he and Tokar credited the firefighters union for agreeing to accept part-time firefighter/paramedics into the department in January 2015, which enabled the village to reopen and operate the Lombard Avenue station with part-time staff.
The department currently employs 13 full-time firefighters, 17 part-timers and 10 paid on-call firefighters, Sheets said.
thanks Dan
Excerpts from thereporteronline.com:
Members of the Chicago Ridge Firefighters Union presented Fire Chief George Sheets with the first George W. Sheets Award for professionalism, progress and results during the past 21/2 years that he has led the department. It will now be awarded annually to a member of the department.
Chicago Ridge Fire Department Capt. Chris Bennett said Sheets deserved the award named after him. The plan is to present the award annually to a deserving member of the department who shows the qualities emblazoned on the plaque: professionalism, progress, and results.
Bennett said a lot of improvements have been made in the department in the 21/2 years since Sheets took over as chief. He cited the creation of the part-time firefighter program, with fully-trained part-time firefighters working alongside the 13 full-time firefighters as one of Sheets’ accomplishments. He said Sheets has also expanded the role of paid on-call firefighters, a program that grew out of the department that was made up of volunteer firefighters.
Bennett said the success of the part-time firefighter program is allowing the department to keep the village’s second firehouse, at 107th and Lombard Avenue, open 24/7, starting in mid-February. For the past year, since it was reopened in April 2015, it has been open 12 hours a day. Currently, ambulances are based at the station, but eventually fire equipment will be, too. Officials said having it open has reduced response times by more than two minutes.
“This system is better than under past administrations, when we had three deputy chiefs who were only administrators and shift commanders. They could not work any equipment. Now, as a captain, in addition to being a shift commander, I can go out on calls to monitor the situation. We now have enough people to man two ambulances, and we don’t need to look for help from neighboring communities as much as we once did,” said Bennett.
“The bottom line is, (Sheets) is a great delegator, and we are getting things done. He protects this town more than it ever has been before.”
