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Posts Tagged Clarendon Hills Fire Department
From the patch.com:
Clarendon Hills needs paramedics, but the fire department can cover its shifts the chief said.
Every month, Fire Chief Brian Leahy releases the monthly schedule more than a couple of weeks ahead of time. Many shifts, often during weekends, are open. For March, the fire department put out the original schedule Feb. 11. Nearly two weeks later, about four dozen shifts remained unfilled.
“That’s pretty normal,” Leahy said in an interview. “The firefighters, EMTs and paramedics put in their shift requests. Some don’t put in any until they get their schedules for their full-time jobs.”
Except for Leahy, the department’s members are part time. He said the department has looked at how other departments with paid, on-call models handle scheduling.
On the open shifts, he said that 99.9 percent of the time, someone will pick up a shift. At the same time, he acknowledged staffing can be difficult.
“We’ve been struggling through this all through COVID,” Leahy said. “McDonald’s can’t get enough employees. It’s the same thing.”
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Excerpts from patch.com:
Clarendon Hills’ elected officials have been silent on the status of Village Manager Kevin Barr for the last two weeks. But his continued employment appears to be in question. Some residents have pointed to comments during a recent meeting of a village board committee meeting as possibly contributing to the situation.
Barr has been on personal leave for a couple of weeks. Last Wednesday, the village board held a more than two-hour closed session on an employee’s situation, but trustees would not identify the employee. On Monday night, the board is set to vote on an employment agreement with Barr.
At the Jan. 12 Public Safety Committee, officials discussed the possibility of buying a new ladder truck for the fire department, which is expected to cost $1.4 million. The price of such trucks has escalated in the last year, with the village originally budgeting $1 million. Barr has talked about the possibility of sharing a ladder truck with neighboring towns to reduce costs. But firefighters, including Chief Brian Leahy, say the village needs the truck. During the committee meeting, Barr made at least two references to the long time that Leahy has been with the fire department. According to Leahy’s LinkedIn page, he joined the department in the 1970s.
When officials were discussing fatal fires over the years, Leahy said his recollection was that the village fought a fatal fire a dozen years ago or maybe longer. “But not 1930,” Barr said, adding, “I’m sorry you were there.” Others laughed.
Later in the meeting, they were discussing the efficiencies in law enforcement services over time. “Dispatch is a fantastic example,” Barr said. “It’s a million times better and more efficient than it was, Brian, back in 1930, right?” Others could be heard chuckling.
Near the end of the meeting, Leahy said a number of firefighters had tested positive for the coronavirus. Barr said the situation would likely worsen over the next three weeks. “You didn’t give it to everybody, did you, Roger? It’s either you or me,” Barr said, referring to Assistant Fire Chief Roger Krupp.
Barr has prohibited Leahy from speaking with the media on most issues. Within about a week of the meeting, Barr started his leave.
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Excerpts from patch.com:
The Clarendon Hills village manager expressed frustration Monday with members of the fire department in the continuing controversy over whether the village should buy a new ladder truck. For months, he has looked at the possibility of sharing a ladder truck with another town, mostly likely Hinsdale. As a result, he said, department employees, family members, and other interested residents have conducted a public relations campaign to convince the village board to end the debate and buy a new ladder truck. Meanwhile, the fire chief said he is not allowed to talk to media about the issue.
The expected price of a new truck has soared to $1.4 million, from $1 million and the current one is nearing the end of its useful life.
In a memo, the village manager listed seven communities with populations similar to the combined population of Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills. Each of them have one ladder truck, unlike the two in Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills. The other towns are Batavia, Glen Ellyn, Melrose Park, Oak Forest, Westmont, Wilmette, and Elmwood Park, plus there are 16 towns about the size of Clarendon Hills that a ladder truck including Calumet Park, Hillside, Princeton, River Forest, Riverside, and West Dundee.
La Grange, which is nearly double the size of Clarendon Hills, has been without a ladder truck for more than a decade. Last month, La Grange fought a fire in a three-story house with Hinsdale and Westmont providing ladder trucks. Usually, La Grange relies on the Pleasantview Fire Protection District for a ladder truck, but they weren’t available.
Last fall, Clarendon Hills officials met with La Grange’s fire chief to discuss operations, and learned that La Grange has seen no notable negative results being without a ladder truck and that they have an informal relationship with neighboring departments to provide support if needed.
For this year’s budget, the village has earmarked $30,000 for a consultant to look at the issue of fire department vehicles.
Proponents of a new ladder truck say the village’s insurance rating would likely drop without one in town, increasing residents’ insurance premiums. At a Public Safety Committee meeting in November, the chief was concerned about the impact on the department’s staffing model if it were provided with inferior equipment.
A former village trustee in favor of a new ladder truck suggested the village eliminate the assistant village manager’s position and the $50,000-a-year contract with the local chamber of commerce.
Last fall, the Hinsdale village president their village board that the two towns have an intergovernmental agreement that calls for sharing fire personnel, equipment, and vehicles. He wondered whether Clarendon Hills needed to spend so much money on a ladder truck when Hinsdale had one.
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Excerpts from Fox32chicago.com:
Leaders in Clarendon Hills are looking to share a fire department ladder truck with another community, saving a big chunk of change.
One village official says that public safety comes first, but if they can get by with sharing a ladder truck with a neighboring community, then why not save that money?
Some community members are upset at the thought that the Clarendon Hills Fire Department wouldn’t have its own ladder truck, fearing response times would be longer. They have organized, and there is a Change.org petition as well as yard signs being put up.
The issue at hand is the current ladder truck is getting old and needs to be replaced. The cost is well over a million dollars. The village manager says they are still researching their options to replace it or rely on another department when they need the ladder truck.
There is a village board meeting Monday night. The ladder is not on the agenda, but they are expecting some public comment. The village manager says they have a lot more to research before they make a decision.
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From The Clarendon Courier:
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FromScott Pilafas:
Long time Clarendon Hills Firefighter /Paramedic Bobbie Bowen is retiring. Roberta has worked for several west suburban fire departments, eventually finding a home with Clarendon Hills and working as a patrol officer for the Chicago Police Department. In honor of Roberta, we affixed checkerboard reflective stickers on the front bumper of Medic 86. Anyone who knows Roberta that I haven’t reach out to, please join us in celebrating her retirement.
The Village of Clarendon Hills has commissioned an outside consultant to provide an operational assess and departmental leadership study which can be found HERE
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