Posts Tagged North Riverside Fire Department

Box Alarm fire in North Riverside, 4-28-18

This from Jeff Braun, Jr.

Here are some photos of the Box Alarm fire in North Riverside (4/28/18). Initial calls came in for a fire alarm at the Big Corner Tavern (8405 Cermak Rd.) Engine 808 arrived on scene and reported a 2-story, mixed occupancy with heavy smoke and fire from the second floor. They immediately requested the box alarm assignment. Truck 904 set their aerial up to the roof in the alpha sector, while Berwyn Chief 900 assumed command of the scene. Forest Park Engine 401 was setup in the rear of the building and Broadview Engine 7 tapped the hydrant on the corner of 2nd and Cermak. Crews from North Riverside, Berwyn, Broadview, Forest Park, Lyons, Riverside, Oak Park, LaGrange Park, Stickney, and Cicero were on scene, and River Forest was due on the COQ. Companies were in the process of overhaul on my arrival. -Jeff Braun Jr. (COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY)

Cicero FD Truck 2

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

Firefighters after battling a fire

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

Firefighters on building roof with aerial ladder

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

Berwyn FD Truck 904

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

fire scene in North riverside IL

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

fire scene in North riverside IL

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

Oak Park FD Engine 603

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

Firefighters on scene with ladder

Jeff Braun Jr. COUNTY-WIDE FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY

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North Riverside Fire Department news

Excerpts from the rblandmark.com

North Riverside Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr. said the village will drop its pursuit of privatizing firefighting services through the courts after the Illinois Court of Appeals on Sept. 29 upheld a ruling by the Illinois Labor Relations Board that the village engaged in an unfair labor practice by seeking to unilaterally terminate its contract with union firefighters while that contract was subject to arbitration.

The appeal was effectively North Riverside’s last resort in the courts, which for the past three-plus years have systematically ruled against the village’s contention that it could terminate the union contract because the two sides had reached an impasse.

“It finally closes the door on this experiment to argue that our contract is null and void,” said Chris Kribales, the president of North Riverside Firefighters Union Local 2714, which represents the village’s 12 union firefighters. “It finally puts us back on a level field.”

In March, the appellate court had affirmed that the Illinois Labor Relations Board was the proper venue to play out the contract dispute. In 2014, the village had filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, asking a judge to declare the village could unilaterally terminate the union contract. Judge Diane Larsen ruled she didn’t have jurisdiction to make such a ruling.

Now the matter will go before Illinois Labor Relations Board arbitrator, something North Riverside Firefighters Union Local 2714 had demanded in 2014, shortly after the village had filed its suit in circuit court.

“We’re not going to appeal this,” Hermanek said of the Sept. 29 appellate court ruling. “It’s done. This was the last shoe to drop.”

An arbitrator selected to hear the North Riverside matter put the hearing on hold back in January 2015, because of the pending litigation. Now that the litigation has concluded, the arbitrator will resume his role.

Hermanek was philosophical about the failure of the lawsuit, saying, “You don’t know ’til you try. Now we’ll just move in a different direction.” He is holding out the slim hope that a labor arbitrator might rule that it can terminate its contract because, if it doesn’t, the village would face a devastating financial future.

The appellate court ruling noted that “while the goal of arbitration is to reach an agreement, [the Illinois Labor Relations Act] does not prevent an arbitrator from determining that the circumstances presented justify an award permitting an employer to sever any contractual relationship with the union” and that “the categorical elimination of employment, a [collective bargaining agreement] and every condition thereof falls within the purview of the arbitrator’s decision.”

While it would seem unlikely that an arbitrator would go to such lengths as to allow the village to terminate its union contract, it’s at least possible, the three-judge panel ruled.

The most recent union contract expired on April 30, 2014. Both sides have met during the past year to see if there are areas of common ground as they pursue a new deal. The union wants its staffing levels brought up to pre-2009 numbers, when minimum staffing was set at six firefighters per shift, according to Kribales.

Right now, the department is working three four-firefighter minimum shifts, but only has 11 firefighters to staff them (the 12th firefighter is a day-shift lieutenant). That means even if every shift is fully staffed (and no one takes a day off or calls in sick) the village is paying someone 24 hours of overtime one out of every three shifts, said Kribales.

Hermanek said the village will hire a firefighter to fill a vacancy created by the recent retirement of Firefighter Rick Urbinati. But there’s been no promise to add any additional firefighters after that.

Kribales said hiring just the one firefighter to replace Urbinati, while not enough, will still help.

It’s been an expensive detour for the administration, which announced the lawsuit as a way for the village to ultimately save money by eliminating future union pension obligations. It’s unclear exactly how much the village has spent to have its law firm pursue privatization through the courts and in matters before the Illinois Labor Relations Board. The firefighters union estimates the village has spent more than $1 million, while the village has claimed the court action has cost roughly $100,000.

The Landmark’s analysis of village financial records showed that North Riverside spent more than $800,000 on total legal fees between 2013 and 2016. The privatization effort started in the summer of 2014.

For the three years prior to the 2013-14 fiscal year, the village had never spent more than $76,000 annually for legal services

thanks Dan

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As seen around … North Riverside

From Josh Boyajian:

Mack CF fire engine

Josh Boyajian photo

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Fatal Box Alarm in Berwyn, 5-5-17 (part 1)

This from Jeff Braun, Jr.

Here are some photos of the Box Alarm for the house fire in Berwyn at 3310 S Home Ave. The fire started at approx. 11:45 hours. Companies arrived on scene and reported heavy smoke and fire showing from the roof. The Box Alarm was initiated about 10 minutes into the incident. One victim was found deceased. Thanks. -Jeff Braun Jr.

firefighters with hose line at fire scene

Jeff Braun, Jr. County-Wide Photography

flames from the attic of a house

Jeff Braun, Jr. County-Wide Photography

North Riverside FD Piere PUC fire engine on a hydrant

Jeff Braun, Jr. County-Wide Photography

Oak park E-ONE tower ladder at fire scene

Jeff Braun, Jr. County-Wide Photography

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North Riverside Fire Department news

Excerpts from the rblandmark.com:

The president of North Riverside Firefighters Union Local 2714 announced a vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Brian Basek during a blistering and, at times, personal denouncement at the end of the village board’s March 20 meeting, and which appeared timed to inflict maximum political damage and embarrassment to Mayor Hubert Hermanek just two weeks before the April 4 election.

In a council chamber packed to overflowing with supporters of both union firefighters and the village’s administration, union President Chris Kribales said members cast unanimous no confidence votes and read a two-page prepared statement blasting Basek’s “inability to provide sound leadership and effectively manage the affairs of this fire department.”

Basek, a full-time North Riverside firefighter for 32 years and chief since 2013, announced his retirement last year and intended on walking away from the job at the end of November 2016.

He agreed to stay on through the election as a favor to Hermanek, since candidates for the job were leery of taking a new job with a mayoral election just over the horizon.

The chief sat silently through Kribales three-minute statement, during which the union president criticized him for “flagrant apathy for public safety,” “orders to use antiquated apparatus and equipment” while new equipment sat idle, “intentionally misinterpret[ing] the labor agreement, and “micromanag[ing] the day-to-day operations of his command staff.”

“This undereducated, underqualified mayoral appointee conveys an arrogance and ignorance dangerous to his position by not allowing positive, proactive decisions necessary for this department to move confidently forward,” said Kribales to the applause of his supporters.

In a phone interview after the meeting, Basek told the Landmark, “I don’t want to dignify Mr. Kribales’ remarks with a response.”

Hermanek responded at the meeting to the no-confidence announcement by rattling off a list of accomplishments, from setting department policies to securing a grant for a new fire engine, that lasted six minutes. At the conclusion of Hermanek’s remarks, many in the audience along with all of the members of the village board, responded with a standing ovation in support of the fire chief.

While the fire chief didn’t want to respond to the vote of no confidence, Hermanek called the union president’s statement “embarrassing, disgusting and uncalled for.”

The mayor also said it was an election stunt near the climax of a campaign where administration three-year effort to privatize the fire department have drawn clear battle lines.

Kribales told the Landmark that firefighters took the no-confidence vote about a month ago. Basek and Hermanek said no one from the fire department mentioned anything to them about the vote in the past month.

Trustee H. Bob Demopoulos, who stood to applaud after the mayor’s March 20 remarks, is running against Hermanek for mayor and has made the fire department his number one issue for the past two municipal elections.

In 2015, Demopoulos was re-elected trustee, leading a slate of candidates calling itself Save Our Firefighters.

Since 2013, he has supported the fire union’s proposal for the village to drop its longtime private paramedic service and use part-timers to man ambulances while union firefighters, most of whom are not cross-trained, get paramedic certification. Demopoulos and the union want the department to be staffed only by union firefighter/paramedics and Demopoulos has embraced the union’s call for additional staffing.

Paramedic Services of Illinois, the village’s paramedic service for more than three decades, has contributed $8,885 to the VIP Party, of which Hermanek and every village trustee with the exception of Demopoulos is a member. Their last contribution was for $1,500 on Feb. 14.

While state campaign contribution records don’t indicate any large donors to Demopoulos’ campaign to be from individuals or groups associated with firefighters, past Demopoulos campaigns drew financial support from local and out-of-town firefighters.

In 2015, the biggest contributors to Save Our Firefighters were a pair of Berwyn firefighters, which each gave $1,000. The campaign also received donations from the Berwyn Firefighters Union ($250), the Cicero Firefighters Union ($250) and a veteran North Riverside firefighter ($200).

thanks Dan

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North Riverside considers privatizing the fire department (more)

Excerpts from the rblandmark.com:

A 2014 bid to have a Cook County Circuit Court judge declare that the Village of North Riverside had a right to unilaterally terminate its contract with union firefighters fizzled on March 15 when the Illinois Court of Appeals upheld the circuit court’s ruling that it had no jurisdiction over the matter.

In an eight-page ruling handed down by a panel of three appellate court judges, Justice Terrence J. Lavin wrote that the village’s argument that it was merely raising a legal question about its right to end a collectively bargained contract with firefighters was patently disingenuous.

Rather, the appellate court ruled, the circuit court properly dismissed the village’s complaint. As exclusive jurisdiction lies with the [Illinois Labor Relations] Board.

It’s not clear exactly whether or when the matter will end up as the subject of binding arbitration in front of the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

But, North Riverside Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr. told the Landmark in a phone interview that the March 15 decision would not be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court and that the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court is now dead.

The village is now pinning its hopes on another case in front of the Illinois Court of Appeals. In July 2016, the Illinois Labor Relations Board voted 4 to 1 in favor of the firefighter union’s unfair labor practice complaint, arguing the village had no right to unilaterally terminate its contract with firefighters.

North Riverside appealed that decision and the matter is pending in the Illinois Court of Appeals. It’s unclear when a ruling will be handed down, but the case has been fully briefed and both sides are simply awaiting a decision.

If that ruling comes down in favor of the firefighters, the union would ask the labor board to set a date for arbitration, which has been on hold since January 2015.

The union demanded arbitration in September 2015, shortly after the village filed its lawsuit in circuit court. The Illinois Labor Relations Board agreed to the demand, and ground rules for the arbitration process were set at a meeting in January 2015. But the arbitrator assigned to the case held the arbitration in abeyance until all matters before the courts were cleared up.

Hermanek said he’d prefer hammering out a new union agreement with firefighters to arbitration.

Hermanek wants to limit the number of union firefighter positions because of the pension obligations that were the primary argument for the 2014 fire privatization bid. The department is short three firefighters, but the situation has led to high overtime costs, with union firefighters filling in whenever a shift is short-staffed.

The mayor would like the union to agree to allow the village to hire paid-on-call or contract firefighters to fill the gaps when shifts are short of personnel in order to reduce the overtime burden. The union reportedly has rejected the proposal.

Chris Kribales, president of North Riverside Firefighters Union 2714, said firefighters would agree to allowing paid-on-call or contract firefighters to fill out shifts in return for replacing the village’s contract paramedic service with part-timers culled from the department’s hiring list.

Kribales said the part-time ambulance staffing model has been employed by the Bensenville Fire Protection District. According to a help wanted ad from that department last November, part-timers’ starting pay is $12.50 per hour.

Despite setback after setback in the courts, Hermanek defended the village’s decision to file the suit seeking termination of the union contract, saying that someone had to take on the unions in order to control pension obligations. During the 2016-17 fiscal year, police and fire pensions account for about 12 percent of the village’s annual operating budget.

thanks Dan

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2-Alarm fire in Berwyn, 12-18-16

Photos from Steve Redick of the 2-Alarm fire in Berwyn Sunday (12/18/16)

Berwyn FD ladder truck at a fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Oak Park FD tower ladder at fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Oak Park FD tower ladder at fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Oak Park FD tower ladder at fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Oak Park FD tower ladder at fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Oak Park FD tower ladder at fire scene

Steve Redick photo

master streams at winter fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Berwyn FD fire engine at a fire sene

Steve Redick photo

Stickney fire engine pumping

Steve Redick photo

Cicero FD fire engine pumping

Steve Redick photo

North Riverside FD tower ladder pumping

Steve Redick photo

Berwyn FD ladder truck at a fire scene

Steve Redick photo

Berwyn FD Pierce Dash CF PUC at a fire

Steve Redick photo

firefighters working in frigid temperatures

Steve Redick photo

This from County-Wide Fire Photography:

Here are some shots of the 2nd Alarm fire in Berwyn at 1411 Highland Ave. These photos are from about 45 minutes into the incident. Thanks.

Bedford Park FD Snorkel

County-Wide Fire Photography

North Riverside FD fire truck

County-Wide Fire Photography

Berwyn FD fire engine on a hydrant

County-Wide Fire Photography

Berwyn firefighters at fire scene

County-Wide Fire Photography

aftermath of apartment fire in Berwyn IL

County-Wide Fire Photography

Berwyn fire truck at fire scene

County-Wide Fire Photography

Berwyn firefighters at fire scene

County-Wide Fire Photography

Bridgeview fire engine

County-Wide Fire Photography

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North Riverside Fire Department news

Excerpts from the rblandmark.com:

It’s been seven years since H. Bob Demopoulos first ran as a political candidate in North Riverside. He ran as an independent for  mayor, and lost by a whopping 71 percent to 21 percent margin.

A lot has happened in the village since that time. The village struggled through the economic recession that hit as voters cast their ballots in 2009, and Demopoulos later emerged as a competitive candidate, winning two elections that followed.

In 2011, he ran again as an independent and was elected a trustee. He won re-election to the job in 2013 at the top of a slate of candidates, calling themselves Save Our Firefighters, which nearly pulled off an upset against the VIP Party.

He’s seeking the mayoral post again in 2017.

“Our main focus is fiscal responsibility,” said Demopoulos, who is calling for any year-end budget surpluses to go toward paying long-term liabilities such as pensions and post-retirement health insurance obligations.

“A certain faction of the budget needs to be earmarked toward paying off our debt,” Demopoulos said.

The village has earmarked certain funds toward such purposes. Red-light camera revenue in recent years has gone toward paying police and fire pension obligations. Meanwhile, sales taxes have been pledged to pay off debt issued to finalize a deal that brought Costco to North Riverside and more recently have been pledged to finance bonds sold this fall to fund road improvements.

But the village doesn’t have a dedicated stream of revenue other than general operating funds to pay for post-retirement health insurance costs, for which the village will be on the hook for many years at an estimated total cost of more than $35 million, according to the village’s most recent financial audit.

Demopoulos also said he wants to end the infighting between village government and the North Riverside firefighters union, which have been locked in a more than two-year-long court battle over privatizing firefighting services.

It’s unclear exactly how much the battle has cost the village, but records indicate the village, by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year, expected to spend more than $500,000 in legal fees since 2014 on matters pertaining to the fire department.

“The legal stuff with the fire department has to end,” Demopoulos said. “It’s a losing battle.”

 thanks Dan

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New tower ladder for North Riverside (more)

This from Drew Gresik:

Here is a shot of the new North Riverside tower ladder, a 2016 Pierce Velocity 2000/300/100′ RM. It was a demo, and it is not in service yet. Pierce serial number #28875.

North Riverside FD Tower Ladder 806

North Riverside Tower Ladder 806. – 2016 Pierce Velocity 2000/300/100′ RM so #28875. Drew Gresik photo

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North Riverside Fire Department news

Excerpts from the RBLandmark.com:

Brian Basek could never say his three-plus years as fire chief in North Riverside were dull. Promoted shortly after the election of Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr. in 2013, Basek’s tenure was challenging almost from the start and marked with resentment from firefighters hostile to the village’s attempts to crush their union and privatize the department.

Now, with firefighters and village officials back at the negotiating table and the relationship between firefighters and the village administration slowly repairing itself, Basek is retiring. The 55-year-old Basek, downplayed the role of more than two years of labor strife in his decision to retire now.

After nearly 32 years as a full-time firefighter and three more as a paid-on-call firefighter in the early 1980s, his last day on the job will be Nov. 30. Basek was hired as a paid-on-call firefighter in 1981 and became a full-time firefighter in 1985. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1997 and served in that capacity until he was named chief on May 13, 2013. He succeeded Ken Rouleau, who is also Basek’s brother-in-law.

His father Charles, a longtime machinist for Commonwealth Edison, was a paid-on-call firefighter in the village before the department went full time and stayed on as a paid-on-call firefighter until his death in 2006.

Charles Basek’s commitment to the department served as an example for both of his sons, Brian and David, who is retired from his position as battalion chief for the Tri-State Fire Protection District. 

Hermanek said finding a replacement for Basek will be a bit of a challenge, because he can only ensure the job through April 4, 2017, which is Election Day. Hermanek is running for a second term as mayor. He’s unsure whether he’ll face a challenge; so far, no one has stepped forward.

“It’s going to have to be a six-month solution,” Hermanek said. “I’m keeping all of my options open, but the best solution is probably to get someone from the outside.”

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