Posts Tagged Lincolnwood Fire Department

Lincolnwood Fire Department news (more)

Oct 23

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

A former Lincolnwood firefighter who is suing the village’s fire department is now naming his former chief, deputy chief, and battalion chief as defendants in his lawsuit where the ex-firefighter alleges he was harassed, and discriminated and retaliated against for defending a female coworker and reporting what he called a supervisor’s drug use.

A motion to name the three additional defendants was made Oct. 9, as part of the lawsuit Josh Weller first filed Aug. 30, 2017 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

“Over the course of discovery in this case, particularly through a written answer from (Paramedic Services of Illinois Inc.) provided on June 28, 2018 and depositions at the Village of Lincolnwood on September 27, 2018, as well as related investigation done by plaintiff’s counsel in light of the revelations, plaintiff is now prepared to name three individuals, all senior employees of PSI at the time the comments were made, who he alleges defamed him,” the motion reads.

This latest motion states that an official provided false information about Weller to Chicago Police Department officials when they called to do a background check after Weller applied for a job there. The defendant then bragged about it in public. The officials also falsely accused Weller of threatening to assault a Lincolnwood police officer, the motion alleges.

In a response dated Tuesday, attorneys for PSI wrote that Weller did not state a claim for relief, which would render the allegations futile, among reasons for dismissing the motion. Defense attorneys also wrote in the response that defamation actions are subject to a one-year statute of limitations, which has expired.

In his complaint, Weller says he was employed by PSI starting in October 2010, and the company placed him in Lincolnwood in December 2015, where he worked until he was fired the following July.

In the lawsuit, Weller describes what he called a pattern of harassment.

Tags: chicagoareafire.com, harassment lawsuit filed against Lincolnwood Fire Department, Joshua Weller, Lincolnwood Fire Department, Paramedic Services of Illinois named in lawsuit

Lincolnwood Fire Department news (more)

Mar 22

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

A lawsuit filed by a former Village of Lincolnwood firefighter against the village and the private company that employed him will be allowed to continue, but the count filed against the village has been dropped, a federal district court judge wrote on Wednesday.

Joshua Weller alleged in the lawsuit that while he worked as a firefighter/paramedic in Lincolnwood for Paramedic Services of Illinois Inc. (PSI), he saw widespread discrimination against a female coworker.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division on Aug. 30, 2017 by Weller’s attorney, Daniel Zemans.

But the defendants, which include PSI, the village of Lincolnwood and “Jane and John Does 1-10,” filed a motion seeking to have the suit dismissed. Then on Jan. 18, Zemans asked to drop the portion of the suit against Lincolnwood, while keeping the portion against PSI.

In a written ruling filed Wednesday, Judge Charles Kocoras granted Lincolnwood’s and Zemans’ requests to dismiss the count against the village without prejudice. He agreed to dismiss one count against PSI, but denied PSI’s motion to dismiss six other counts filed against them in the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, after Weller stood up to the mistreatment and, in a separate incident, reported a supervisor’s drug abuse, other men he worked with and male superiors responded by retaliating against him by harassing and eventually Weller was fired.

After reviewing the complaint “with due deference – and the lascivious, hostile nature of the firehouse portrayed therein – we find that Weller has sufficiently pled his gender discrimination causes of action,” Kocoras wrote.

Kocoras denied one count against PSI, that of intentional infliction of emotional distress, without prejudice, he wrote. The alleged harassment was “carried out for the exclusive purpose of gratifying the individual perpetrators in a manner readily distinguishable from any sort of business aim.”

In his complaint, Weller says he was employed by PSI starting in October 2010, and the company placed him in Lincolnwood in December 2015, where he worked until he was fired the following July. The north suburb is one of the few municipalities in Illinois to outsource firefighter staffing, according to village officials. Lincolnwood officials said outsourcing saves the village money on pensions and benefits for the workers.

Weller witnessed male coworkers calling his female coworker explicit vulgarities, describe her as “useless,” talk to her “brazenly” about her breasts, tell her “she should not try to seduce anyone at work,” and ask if she was sleeping with her coworkers, according to the complaint.

Weller said in his lawsuit that male co-workers called him the woman’s guard dog, spread rumors that he and the woman were having an affair, asked Weller if he had impregnated her, asked for videos of the two having sex and texted him pornographic images asking if “the images depicted the type of sexual activity” Weller and the woman engaged in.

Tags: harassment lawsuit filed against Lincolnwood Fire Department, Joshua Weller, Lincolnwood Fire Department, Paramedic Services of Illinois named in lawsuit

Lincolnwood Fire Department news

Jan 25

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 1 Comment

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Joshua Weller alleged in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Aug. 30, 2017 that while he worked as a firefighter/paramedic in Lincolnwood, he saw widespread discrimination against a female coworker. After he stood up to the mistreatment, other men he worked with and male superiors responded by retaliating against him, harassing, and eventually firing him.

The defendants, which include Paramedic Services of Illinois (PSI), the village of Lincolnwood and “Jane and John Does 1-10,” filed a motion seeking to have the suit dismissed. On Jan. 18, Weller’s attorney asked to drop the portion of the suit against Lincolnwood, while keeping the portion against PSI.

In his complaint, Weller says he was employed by PSI starting in October 2010, and the company placed him in Lincolnwood in December of 2015, where he worked until he was fired the following July. The woman at the center of the allegations in Weller’s lawsuit … no longer works for PSI.

“Mr. Weller quickly realized that, in the eyes of PSI coworkers and officers, (the female employee’s) only problem was that she was a woman in a fire department in which supervisors and coworkers thought it was okay for them to degrade and harass her on a regular basis,” the complaint reads.

“Faced with the choice of joining in the mistreatment of (the female firefighter) or treating her with the respect she deserved, Mr. Weller opted for the latter, and made it clear to his coworkers and supervisors their behavior was unacceptable,” the lawsuit says.

In addition, according to the complaint, Weller reported a superior’s drug abuse, one that caused him to fall asleep while in training and on duty, including while out on calls and began to nod off while assigned to drive a 7-year-old girl to the hospital in an ambulance. The superior also abandoned his crew inside a burning structure in which a floor collapsed according to Weller’s lawsuit.

Weller said in the lawsuit that “less than a month after [his] final complaint about the harassment of and retaliation against him … and just three days after he gave PSI the proof about [the superior’s] drug problem … PSI terminated [his] employment.” PSI told Weller he was being fired for violating a cell phone policy and for violating HIPAA.

Attorneys for the village and PSI filed motions in December to dismiss the suit. One motion argued the defendant, who is a man, could not have been discriminated on the basis of his gender, therefore the suit fails to meet the pleading standard of gender discrimination. The other motion to dismiss notes that Lincolnwood officials wrote a letter dated Aug. 30, 2016, requesting PSI to reassign Weller to an organization other than the Village of Lincolnwood Fire Department.

thanks Dan

Tags: harassment lawsuit filed against Lincolnwood Fire Department, Joshua Weller, Lincolnwood Fire Department, Paramedic Services of Illinois named in lawsuit

Lincolnwood Fire Department news

Feb 26

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

Excerpts from lincolnwoodil.org:

E9-1-1 DISPATCH CONSOLIDATION

For over 50 years the village has operated its own E9-1-1 dispatch center for emergency calls within the village’s corporate limits. Since 2002, fire and ambulance calls are handled by the Regional Emergency Dispatch (RED) Center, which services 15 municipalities. In 2015, the Illinois Legislature approved a law requiring that any Illinois municipality with a population less than 25,000 (Lincolnwood’s population is 12,500) which currently operates its own emergency dispatch center, must consolidate its these services or lose its Emergency 9-1-1 revenue. Last year Lincolnwood received almost $200,000 in 9-1-1 surcharge revenue.

The village completed a comprehensive review of options for consolidating dispatch services. This review included joining other existing dispatch consortiums or contracting with another municipality. After a thorough review, the village decided to contract with the Village of Skokie based on cost, quality of services provided, and the level of cooperation that already exists between the two communities.

Effective March 1, 2017, Skokie will begin providing E9-1-1 services to Lincolnwood residents and businesses. After March 1 when you call 9-1-1, the call will be answered at the Skokie Police Station. They will then dispatch the appropriate Lincolnwood police and/or fire personnel. There will be absolutely no delay in response time or any degradation of service from that which previously existed. Since Lincolnwood will no longer operate a dispatch center, there will no longer be personnel on-duty to receive the public at the police station after normal business hours: Monday – Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

thanks Ron

Tags: consolidated dispatch law, consolidation of emergency dispatching, Lincolnwood Fire Department, Lincolnwood to contract E9-1-1 dispatching from Skokie, Regional Emergency Dispatch (RED) Center

As seen around … Fire Service, Inc.

Sep 12

Posted by Admin in Fire Truck photos | 14 Comments

This from Karl Klotz:

Here are some (cell phone) photos from the Fire Service Inc. open house on a cloudy September 9th in St. John Indiana.

Homer Twp will be taking delivery soon of the new Engine 32. University Park will be taking delivery of the new E-ONE engine with a 2nd E-ONE engine still in production. There were a few other demo rigs on display as well as the old Lincolnwood Truck 15

Karl Klotz photo

Karl Klotz photo

Karl Klotz photo

New fire engine for the University Park FD

Karl Klotz photo

Karl Klotz photo

Karl Klotz photo

Tags: E-ONE fire trucks, Elmhurst Fire Department, Fire Service Inc., Homer Township Fire Protection District, Karl Klotz, Lincolnwood Fire Department, new engine for Homer Township, new engine for University Park, University Park Fire Department

New engine for Lincolnwood

Sep 11

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Truck photos, New Delivery | 3 Comments

This from Bob Altwasser:

Here is a picture of Lincolnwood’s new Engine 15 from US Tanker

Bob Altwasser

New Engine 15 for Lincolnwood. Bob Altwasser photo

Tags: Bob Altwasser, fire truck photo, Lincolnwood Fire Department, new engine for Lincolnwood, UST Fire Apparatus

Historic fire in Lincolnwood, 11-3-92

Aug 31

Posted by Admin in Historic Fire Photo | 11 Comments

Images from Steve Redick:

firemen make ladder rescue at office building fire

Steve Redick photo

Steve Redick photo

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

10 Rescued From Blaze At Lincolnwood Bank 11/3/92

Firefighters rescued 10 people from a fire that spread through offices in the Lincolnwood Bank Building in the north suburb Monday evening, fire officials said.

“We had quite a rescue effort,” said Cmdr. Drew Smith of the Lincolnwood Fire Department. “It took some time to fight the fire. We couldn`t put water on it because we were rescuing people. One man was hanging from the (third-floor) window, and we had to rescue him by ladder.” Seven other people also were rescued by ladder from windows of the five-story building at 4433 W. Touhy Ave., he said.

Smith said he didn`t know how many people were working in the building at the time. The fire started about 5:15 p.m. on the third floor in the south central portion of the brick and glass building. The building houses several offices on the second through fifth floors. The bank, which is on the first floor, was not damaged.

Seven engines, five trucks, and 50 firefighters helped fight the extra-alarm blaze. Lincolnwood was assisted by firefighters from Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove, Evanston, Glenview, Rosemont, Des Plaines, Northfield, Park Ridge, Winnetka, and Wilmette.

this from Drew Smith:

Here’s what I can add:

For those that don’t know the geographical location of Lincolnwood, it is surrounded by the City of Chicago on three sides and Skokie to the north. While Skokie companies arrive quickly, the other suburban mutual aid takes a little longer. Also, with the exception of Evanston, all the mutual aid comes from the north and west as Chicago is to the south and Lake Michigan is on the east. In the past several years Chicago has begun to respond into the suburbs on MABAS alarms when requested.

Lincolnwood FD (LFD) was already on two ambulance calls and as such the truck crew was staffing the second ambulance, not the truck. Terry Menzel was the Commander (BC) on duty and IC. He is currently the deputy chief at the Woodstock Fire Rescue District. I came in when they called the MABAS box alarm and assisted at the command post. The media was everywhere. When this fire occurred, the LFD was just a little over two years old having been created 1/1/1990 after the village informed Chicago they would no longer rely on the CFD for fire suppression. Lincolnwood Police had used Paramedic Services of IL for ambulance service since 1977 and after going out for bids, PSI was selected over two other contractors to run the LFD. I am proud to say I was part of that original group and worked to purchase the apparatus and equipment in the ten months leading up to the start of the FD.

As I recall (its been over 23 years now) …

Skokie T16 arrived pretty quick as they are about a mile to 1.5 miles down the road. They were presented with multiple people at the third floor windows and as shown in the photos began rescues.

The fire was on the third floor. Getting the hose flaked and charged took some time in the heavy smoke, and manpower in the first ten minutes was limited. Skokie sent additional companies and chiefs when the rescue was announced. When I arrived the rescues were over and the fire suppression was underway. It was a standpipe operation, I believe, but I recall that in the building just about each floor had a different floor plan and the two stairwells, while they discharged remote from one another at ground level, were pretty much back to back inside a center core. One went from the roof and penthouse to the basement while the other was just from the lobby to the top floor.

It could have been much worse.

Tags: classic fire scene in Lincolnwood IL, Deputy Chief Drew Smith, firemen rescuing civilians with ladders, historic fire scene photos, Lincolnwood Fire Department, Paramedic Services of Illinois (PSI), Skokie Fire Department, Steve Redick

House fire in Niles – 5/12/15

May 12

Posted by Admin in Apparatus on-scene, Fire Scene photos | 1 Comment

Niles firefighters were called to 8115 Ottawa Avenue Tuesday around 1:30PM (5/12/15). The first arriving units reported heavy fire and smoke from the rear of the two-story residence and upgraded to the Code 4 (working fire). There was a report of a person trapped on the second floor, though it turned out that with the assistance of neighbors on the ground, the occupant jumped from the second floor window with minor injuries.

Access to the rear of the house was excellent via a commercial parking lot off Milwaukee Avenue right behind the house. As Niles units prepared to make entry from the front, Morton Grove Engine 5 (supplied by North Maine Engine 1) deployed their deck gun from the rear.

The fire was contained within 15 minutes. Mutual aid units on the scene included: Glenview Ambulance 7 and Truck 14, Des Plaines Truck 61, Morton Grove Battalion 4, Engine 5, and Squad 4, Lincolnwood Ambulance 15, Engine 1 and Ambulance 1 from North Maine, in addition to Niles companies (Engine 2, Engine 3, Truck 2, Battalion 2, Ambulance 2, and Ambulance 3).