Posts Tagged Schaumburg Fire Chief David Schumann

Schaumburg Fire Department news

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Six fire-alarm monitoring companies have sued the village of Schaumburg over a recent law directing all of the approximately 1,200 businesses in town to the governmental agency Northwest Central Dispatch and its own private contractor for their alarm monitoring.

The plaintiffs argue that the law approved last August creates a government-backed monopoly for one business, as well as raising the costs for all its customers.

Schaumburg Fire Chief David Schumann said recent examples of unreliability among private monitoring systems exceed his comfort level. As Northwest Central Dispatch must be contacted for any emergency in the village, he came to conclude that the fewer steps involved in a 9-1-1 call, the more streamlined and safe the process is.

Over a 15-month period before last year’s policy change, the Schaumburg Fire Department documented 31 instances of unreliability among private alarm and sprinkler systems. Among the problems were systems that caused a 10- to 12-minute delay in contacting the fire department.

Elk Grove Village-based SMG Security Systems Inc. is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Its owner and president, John Reidy, said Schumann’s arguments can sound logical to a layman but less so to those in the industry. Purely from a financial perspective, the monthly cost to his current customers in Schaumburg will increase from $25 to $80 as a result of the policy change.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Northwest Central Dispatch and its contractor, Tyco Integrated Security.

John Ferraro, executive director of Northwest Central Dispatch, said the other 10 municipalities his agency serves  have had policies similar to Schaumburg’s new one for decades. He never heard any outcry or experienced any legal action until Schaumburg joined them.

Schaumburg’s Assistant Village Attorney Howard Jablecki said the village believes a home-rule municipality has even greater authority to make such decisions than the fire protection districts that have been sued in the past.

One Schaumburg stands alone on the village board in his belief that steep fines against the alarm companies could have handled the issues of unreliability as effectively as the policy change that was enacted. 

thanks Scott

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Schaumburg firefighter loses battle with cancer

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Schaumburg firefighter Mike Solberg died Friday at the age of 34 after a 3½-year battle with brain cancer.

“It is with a heavy heart, we announce the passing of one of our own, Mike Solberg,” the Schaumburg Professional Firefighters Association posted on its Facebook page Friday night. “Mike fought until the end and lived every minute to the fullest. He was not only courageous, but an example of how we should live our life day to day. Our sincerest thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this time.”

Schaumburg Fire Chief David Schumann said his department is in mourning and that firefighter honors will be a part of Solberg’s funeral services.

“It’s always difficult when you lose a co-worker and friend,” Schumann said on behalf of the department. “But they’re going to get through it. Firefighters are resilient.”

Solberg, a Park Ridge resident and son of Palatine Councilman Greg Solberg, joined the Schaumburg department on Oct. 12, 2012. Two weeks later, debilitating headaches led him to an emergency room where a CT scan and MRI revealed a brain tumor the size of an orange.

Just days later, he underwent surgery to remove the grade four tumor, an advanced malignancy known as glioblastoma.

The cancer went into remission and Solberg was able to return to the department in full capacity. But the tumors returned last June, moving him to light duty as he went to rehab for occupational and physical therapy.

In December, the colleagues who rallied around him held a benefit for Solberg and his family at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine.

Solberg is survived by his wife Maureen, young daughter Emma, his parents, a brother, two sisters and extended family.

Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at Cumberland Chapels, 8300 W. Lawrence Ave. in Norridge.

Funeral services will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, at the funeral home and then proceed to St. Eugene Church, 7598 W. Foster Ave. in Chicago, for Mass at 10 a.m.

Interment will follow at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, 1400 S. Wolf Road in Hillside.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity for which Solberg dedicated so much time — the Schaumburg Firefighter’s Fighting Cancer Pink Tie Ball, 950 W. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg IL 60194 or pinktieball4092.com.

thanks Paul

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