apparatus photos of units that responded to the 4-Alarm fire in St Anne, IL 4-22-18
Eric Haak photo
Posts Tagged Kankakee Fire Department
This from Eric Haak:
The town of Saint Anne, Illinois had a 4th Alarm MABAS Box on Saturday afternoon (4/22). The call came in just before 3:30 pm with the report of flames seen from the closet. It was quickly obvious that this was a little more than that as the fire was boxed nearly on arrival and was escalated to a 2nd Alarm minutes later. Very low water pressure led to available resources being spread thin and thousands of feet of 5 inch being dropped across the neighborhood. Eventually a tanker operation was set up as well as a MABAS 27 Engine Task Force request.
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Excerpts from mysuburbanlife.com:
Kankakee Firefighter Derek Hogg continued to work for a year and a half after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in May 2013.
Holly Hogg, Derek’s wife, said that Derek made the decision to step back from firefighting when his arm gave out during training.
“If you can’t run into a building to pick someone up, it’s probably not a good idea to keep in that line of work,” Holly said.
Derek may have retired from firefighting, but he didn’t retire from helping others. He raised awareness and impacted the ALS community through his annual participation (through 2017) in the Les Turner Strike Out ALS 5K and Walk Run and Roll.
A celebration of Derek’s life will be 8 p.m. Tuesday at Baskerville Funeral Home, 700 E. Kahler Road in Wilmington.
After attending Joliet Junior College, he went on to Chief Shabbona Fire Training Academy and the paramedic program at St. Mary’s Hospital Emergency Medical Services in Kankakee. While at the academy, he worked for the Troy Fire Protection District, and later for the Kankakee City Fire Department and the Wilmington Fire Protection District.
On Dec. 11, Derek announced on his Facebook page his decision to remove himself from life support. He was intubated Oct. 29 after a cold turned into pneumonia and septic shock. In that post, Derek said he was leaving the world a better place because of his children.
By the time Derek was hospitalized, he had a feeding tube and communicated with eye-controlled assistive technology. He died Dec. 15. He was 34. Derek and Holly are the parents of Paxton, 5, Hayden, 3, and Brinlee, 1.
From the Kankakee Township FPD Facebook page:
Today Derek Hogg, a Kankakee City Fire Department firefighter, ends his battle with ALS by taking himself off life support. He has fought his disease with all he has. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. He will leave behind a wife and 3 small children. See you on the other side
Kankakee Firefighter Derek Hogg
Excerpts from the dailyjournal.com:
After 26 years of fighting fires in Kankakee, Damon Schuldt now is the city’s fire chief for the long haul.
The city council approved his appointment on a 13-1 vote, with Ald. Tyler Tall Sr. casting the only nay vote. Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, recited the oath for Schuldt, who has been in the fire industry for 33 years, having previously served five years on Milford’s department.
Schuldt had been the department’s interim chief since Phil Perkins retired at the end of April. The department has been without a permanent chief since Ron Young retired last November.
The city spent $19,500 to have the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association assist with a search. Mayor Chasity Wells-Armstrong interviewed another captain and Schuldt before making him interim chief.
In his concluding comments, he praised his department.
“To all the men and women of the Kankakee Fire Department, I can tell you that you guys have one of the best fire departments in the state of Illinois and probably the nation,” he said. “I would stack them up against anybody for their courage, their dedication, the hourly training they put in and the customer service they provide.”
Excerpts from the daily-journal.com:
A new ambulance went into service for the Kankakee Fire Department. Interim Chief Damon Schuldt made it a goal to replace a 15-year-old ambulance with more than 21,000 hours in service. The department has four ambulances total.
The purchase price of the 2017 Ford F-450 four-wheel drive Wheeled Coach Company ambulance was $160,000.
Schuldt said that was $20,000 less since it was a demo and the department took quick delivery.
Just as quick was getting the ambulance ready to put in service within six days of taking delivery. It usually takes two weeks to a month to get an ambulance into service, Schuldt said.
New ambulance for Kankakee
Jul 26
From the Fire Service, Inc. Facebook page:
Congratulations to Chief Damon Schuldt and the members of the Kankakee Fire Department on the delivery of their new 2017 Wheeled Coach, Type I ambulance. This new unit is built on a Ford F450 4×4 chassis and comes equipped with Liquid Spring suspension system, Whelen LED emergency lighting and our custom “Coolbar” HVAC system. This is KFD’s first Wheeled Coach unit. We appreciate the business, and want to welcome them to the Fire Service family. We will post additional pictures once the unit is lettered and ready for service.
New ambulance for the Kankakee Fire Department. Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Excerpts from the dailyjournal.com:
The interim chief of the Kankakee Fire Department submitted his letter of resignation, effective midnight Sunday.
Interim Chief Phil Perkins, a member of the department since March 1994, turned in his letter to outgoing Mayor Nina Epstein, meaning the department has seen its longtime chief, Ron Young, as well as its interim chief, retire from the department within the past five months.
With Perkins’ retirement, the department has 47 sworn firefighters. The incoming Mayor Chasity Wells-Armstrong must replace him.
Young, the 12-year chief and the city’s third-longest serving chief, retired at the end of November. He had been a member of the force since February 1984.
The city entered into a contract in February with the Illinois Fire Chief Association to conduct a search for the new chief. It was anticipated a new chief likely would have been in place June 1, but with the change in city leadership, the process obviously has been slowed.
Wells-Armstrong said last week she planned to use professional associations to not only help find a fire chief, but a police chief, as well. Police Chief Larry Regnier retired in April.
Excerpts from the Daily-Journal.com:
At a cost outlined not to exceed $19,500, the Kankakee City Council hired the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association to search for a new fire chief at Tuesday’s council meeting … [and] the money would come out of the fire department’s budget.
The fire department has been under the direction of acting Chief Phil Perkins since the retirement of Chief Ron Young at the end of November.
If all goes as planned, Mayor Nina Epstein said the new chief could be hired as early as June 1. Anyone with the necessary education and experience can submit a resume.
Young was the city’s third-longest serving fire chief before his retirement. He served 12 years as chief. He had been with the department since February 1984.
Mike Voss, Daily Journal
Excerpts from the Daily-Journal.com:
A young family of four escaped a fire Thursday morning that destroyed a two-story, multi-family home at 458 West Bourbonnais Street in Kankakee.
The family – consisting of a 23-year-old woman, 21-year-old man, and two children ages 1 and 4 – awoke to smoke detectors about 7:10 a.m. and escaped through a window in their first-story unit. A man living on the second floor left his unit earlier this morning.
“The smoke detectors saved their life,” said Capt. Bryan LaRoche, of the Kankakee Fire Department.
When firefighters arrived, the fire had fully engulfed the first floor and quickly climbed to the second floor. Firefighters from Kankakee and Bradley remained at the scene trying to determine what caused the fire.
The smoke detector was issued by the city and installed last year.
Mike Voss, Daily Journal
thanks Dennis
