The sign outside the Naperville Fire Department’s headquarters changes every month. This month it reads, “Population Protected: 145,855.”
That’s 90,658 more people than in 1984, when Chief Alan Rohlfs left his Hartford, Conn., firefighting job to become Naperville’s chief. But Naperville’s population explosion isn’t the only change Rohlfs has seen. Under his leadership, the department has added five fire stations, and the department now has 168 firefighting personnel, 122 of whom are paramedics. (Since August recruits must qualify as both.)
Along the way, the department’s mission changed too.
“We’re not just fighting fires anymore,” Rohlfs said. “We have very pro-active, public-education programs that teach fire prevention and safety.”
When Rohlfs’ crews do fight a fire, they usually are able to stop it before it engulfs a building.
“For example, a kitchen fire that would have become a whole-house fire years ago can usually be confined to the kitchen now,” he said.
After a home fire, the department follows up by helping residents decipher insurance claims and advising them about salvaging smoke-laden possessions. The department even helps line up free one-night hotel stays for families displaced by fire or other disasters, such as exploded water pipes.
To meet its broader objectives, Naperville’s Fire Department has added staff. Many recent hires arrived with years of experience at departments in smaller towns. Naperville attracts them, Rohlfs said, because of its $41,955 starting salary plus benefits, new facilities and equipment, and opportunities for advancement.
“It’s a very educated group of people,” said Rohlfs, who has a bachelor’s in fire administration from Western Illinois University, Macomb. “Many of our firefighters have associate’s or bachelor’s degrees. Several have master’s degrees in public administration too.”
Working in shifts, at least 47 firefighters are on duty at any given time. In 1999, (2000 numbers aren’t tallied yet) their 9,278 calls included 135 building fires, 57 burning vehicles, 59 tree/brush/grass fires and 40 garbage fires. The fire calls were far outnumbered by the paramedic calls, car accidents and chemical spills/leaks. The budget for the 2000-01 fiscal year, which runs April to April, is just more than $16.8 million.
On Rohlfs’ 2001 to-do list is the hiring of a full-time community-education officer. Until then, Capt. Mark Ziemnik wears this hat in addition to being a shift commander at Station No. 2.
The department reaches more than 27,000 citizens a year through its community educational programs, which include fire station tours, open houses, visits to schools and block parties, first-aid classes and career days at the middle and high schools.
Firefighters haul the department’s mobile fire-safety trailer to dozens of outdoor community events each year. It is a miniature, two-story home–complete with stairs and windows–that fills with non-toxic smoke, used to teach children how to escape from home fires.
By request from community groups and homeowners, they give talks covering fireplace and household safety and conduct home fire inspections. Employers recruit them to teach their employees about storm and fire procedures and fire extinguisher use. They take their fire prevention lessons to retirement homes and health-care providers.
Although the department conducts plenty of programs for adults, Ziemnik said children are his best students.
“They go home and tell their parents what they’ve learned,” he says. “I see the parents at other events, and they tell me they never thought about things like fire escape plans until the kids told them.”
While the focus at the Naperville Fire Department is prevention of fire and injury, the department’s special-response teams react to more unusual calls. The hazardous materials team, for example, responds to incidents such as gas leaks, truck or factory spills and gas leaks.
Its diving team, which includes 30 certified scuba divers with two boats, is a joint effort with the Naperville Police Department. It responds to underwater emergencies in the DuPage River and in the city’s water retention areas, ponds and quarries, which number about 125.
Its technical rescue team, trained to handle incidents such as building collapses and trench cave-ins, recently was called on to rescue a man from beneath a collapsed garage.
The department also serves as an Illinois Emergency Management Agency (EMA), which includes monitoring severe weather and issuing emergency weather and disaster warnings. When they occur, it notifies residents through the local cable TV system and 1610-AM radio.
Despite the department’s growth, its station crews maintain friendly, neighborhood atmospheres, Rohlfs said.
“We have scheduled tours, but we also welcome the mother who arrives at the back door with a few kids,” he said.
Among the stations’ frequent visitors is the chief himself, who can relate to the firefighter wannabes who drag their parents to the fire stations.
“Being a firefighter is all I ever wanted to do,” he said.
As Naperville approaches what home builders call the “build-out” stage, in which undeveloped land is a thing of the past, the department is charting its course.
“The number of fire and medical calls will increase with the population, so we’re adding staff, equipment and new stations to keep ahead of the growth,” Rohlfs said.
The department’s 25-year plan projects a leveling-out of population growth by 2010 and directs future dollars toward more personnel training and better equipment.
But some things won’t change.
“Our basic role of protection will be the same,” Rohlfs said. “We’ll still put water on fires.”
And fire engines in Naperville will still be red. Although many fire departments have painted their trucks lime green, claiming better visibility, Rohlfs remains a firm believer in red.
The reason is simple, Rohlfs said: “It’s tradition.”
FACTS ON FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Naperville Fire Department has come a long way since it was established in 1874. It covers 50 square miles and helps protect 145,453 citizens in Naperville and unincorporated areas. Its ranks include:
– 188 employees; 168 of those fight fires and 122 are paramedics.
– Seven ambulances.
– Nine fire engines.
– Three ladder trucks.
– 10 specialty vehicles.
– Its fire stations include:
– Station No. 1 at 964 E. Chicago Ave.
– Station No. 2 at 601 E. Bailey Rd.
– Station No. 3 at 1803 N. Washington St.
– Station No. 4 at 1971 Brookdale Rd.
– Station No. 5 at 2191 Plainfield/Naperville Rd.
– Station No. 6 at 2808 103rd St.
– Station No.7 at 1380 Aurora Ave.
Slated to open in 2001 and 2003 are:
– Station No. 8 at 75th Street and Modaff Road.
– Station No. 9 at 5th and Ogden Avenues.
To reach any of the stations, call 911 for emergencies or 630-420-6142 for non-emergencies.
— Leslie Mann
