Posts Tagged Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten

Rockford Fire Department news

Excerpts from mystateline.com:

“This fills a huge service gap, our largest for the city by relocating that station out at the airport more up to that Harrison (and) 11th St. area,” said Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten, about the possibility of moving fire station number seven.

The relocation would mean the departments current repair shop on Sawyer Rd. would be replaced by station seven. The move would cost the city just over 1.2 million dollars, something Bergsten thinks is well worth the expense.

“Better response times, better coverage, and what that translates into is better protection for the whole city because now it keeps companies in there own still companies, instead of running into that area that has the high call volume,” he added.

Chief Bergsten says council has been supportive of the move. “They understand that we have not had any new facilities, any capital investment in over 25 years to the fire department,” Bergsten said.

“We want to make sure we keep them updated, make sure we keep things repaired in a nice clean order that everything functions properly,” he added.

thanks Dennis

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Rockford Fire Department news

Excerpts from the rrstar.com:

Three months ago Anthony Johnson received a diagnosis of Stage 2 rectal cancer. Recently he was given a promising outlook from his oncologist, along with a check for $3,600.

The 58-year-old Rockford man served in both the U.S. Army and Marines and has undergone radiation and chemotherapy since August. He has been unable to find employment because of his condition but hopes to get back to work following his final treatments in January.

The money comes as a donation from members of Rockford Firefighters Local 413, who did a T-shirt fundraiser for breast cancer awareness month to honor two of their own members who died from cancer. They then contacted the staff at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in search of someone who could benefit from the funds.

Derek Bergsten, chief of the Rockford Fire Department, said this is just one example of how the firefighters give back to the community.

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Rockford Fire Department news

Excerpts from mystateline.com:

The Rockford Fire Department has racked up $1.2 million in overtime costs through July of 2016.

This comes as crews battled 18 house fires this year, which is just two shy of the 20 that is the year to year average. Chief Derek Bergsten says that’s not the main reason his department is projected to go nearly $1 million dollars over budget. He says unforeseen things like medical leave or even military leave are the biggest reasons, as many firefighters are working overtime to meet staffing requirements.

“We do reports on a weekly basis of what’s driving the overtime then we address it as best we can, if it’s something that is addressable,” Bergsten said at Monday night’s special city council meeting where aldermen were updated on the state of the 2016 budget. “When you have individuals that are injured our number one goal is to make sure they get healthy and they get back to work in a safe manor.”

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Cherry Valley Fire Protection District news

Excerpts from rrstar.com:

Three Cherry Valley Fire Protection District engines all wound up in the shop [at once]. “Everything broke at the same time, it seems,” said Allen Geeser, battalion fire chief for the district. One of the district’s trucks was in the shop for scheduled service. Then the oil pump went on another, and the springs and rear axle went on the third.

So for $500 a day, Cherry Valley is leasing a reserve fire engine from Rockford. The Rockford City Council Monday approved a short-term contract so the village can use a truck from the city’s reserve fleet.

“In order to ensure adequate protection for citizens of Cherry Valley, we graciously accepted an offer from the City of Rockford to loan us apparatus,” said Geeser.

Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said the city has several reserve engines, … but they aren’t typically leased to other departments.

“When I heard they didn’t have any engines, I called up last Wednesday and said we have one I think you could use,” Bergsten said. “We just wanted to make sure they had the same level of fire protection.”

The fire engine breakdowns in Cherry Valley are likely to bring an equipment review for the person hired to replace Chief Craig Wilt, who retired May 24.

“One of the things we’re going to be asking the new district chief to do is to put together an apparatus plan,” said Gary Maitland, president of the fire protection district’s board, who noted the district’s fire engines were purchased in 1988, 1997 and 2008.

He said it may be time to start planning to replace the 28-year-old engine with a new model that could cost from $450,000 for a base model to about $600,000 for one with with all the bells and whistles.

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