During the national anthrax scare in fall 2001, the Northbrook Fire Department received more than 40 calls from worried residents, including one case that turned out to be a crushed breath lozenge on a commuter train floor. None of the calls and subsequent investigations turned up any anthrax.
“There wasn’t a single confirmed case of anthrax in Illinois, yet the public reaction was overwhelming,” Northbrook Fire Chief James “Jay” Reardon said. “Our procedures were inadequate. We were using so many supplies [to test for anthrax] it became a challenge to replenish them.”
Reardon and other suburban fire chiefs and public safety officials sat down with the FBI and developed a method of assessing the credibility of substance reports so that not every scare would lead to a full investigation, straining manpower and supplies.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Northbrook and Glenview Fire Departments have examined their procedures and increased training in specialized areas such as bomb-handling techniques, hazardous materials and above- and below-ground rescues.
“As the world changes, people expect more and more services, and the fire department is always looking for ways to provide more services,” said Mike Sawicki, deputy chief for the Glenview Fire Department.
Because of the many kinds of assistance the departments provide, “the term fire department really has become a misnomer,” Sawicki said. “But we wouldn’t change it for anything. We’re traditionalists.”
For economic and logistical reasons, fire departments are banding together to provide some of these services. The Glenview and Northbrook departments belong to the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Division 3, a network of 17 north suburban fire departments and fire protection districts. The communities share resources and can call on each other for assistance in fighting fires and handling emergencies.
Departments share resources
The members share hazardous materials, technical rescue and underwater rescue and recovery teams. It takes roughly $150,000 to equip a hazardous materials team, and each of the 10 team members has to take 200 hours of training, Reardon said. It would be prohibitively expensive for each department to have its own team, he said.
Reardon, who was named Illinois Fire Chief of the Year in 2002, is a member of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, which oversees the allocation of funding in anti-terrorism efforts.
“The money on the fire department side is going to fund hazmat teams or technical rescue teams or other things that are regionally based,” Reardon said. “We service the whole state through a statewide plan and coordinate what the goals are, what the objectives are, so the operation is seamless and there isn’t wasted money. Not every city needs a hazmat team.”
Through his public speaking engagements, Reardon became aware of the need to provide information to the public about what to do in an emergency. People were asking him what to do in certain circumstances. So the Northbrook department has compiled and distributed an emergency preparedness guide to all residents and businesses. The guide includes tips such as keeping extra copies of business records off site and keeping emergency supplies of medications at home.
The Northbrook department has purchased several high-tech tools in the last few years, including listening devices that can be dropped into collapsed structures to find trapped people, and snake-eye cameras.
“Almost everything also has day-to-day applications too,” Reardon said, citing an overturned tanker as a situation when the tools could be used.
Among Glenview’s recent purchases are two thermal imaging cameras that can see fire still burning inside walls or the outline of a body behind a wall.
The Glenview department handled 6,676 calls last year, 3,833 of which were emergency medical calls. The other half were fires and other emergencies. Sawicki estimated the department responds to about two dozen major fires each year and a couple hundred minor fires.
Northbrook’s department responded to 5,337 calls last year, 2,598 of which were medical emergencies. The rest were fires or residents requesting help with minor problems, such as being locked out of their houses. The department handles about 12 major fires and 150 minor ones in a year, Reardon said.
The department also covers the part of Deerfield that is south of Lake Cook Road and a section of unincorporated Cook County.
Both departments are facing challenges with growth and redevelopment. In Northbrook, where there are three fire stations, the redevelopment of the Techny area could require more fire department staffing in the future. Whether the new businesses install automatic sprinkler systems “will be critical to us to be able to maintain our level of service,” Reardon said. “If everything in there is sprinkled, we’ll be home free. If not, it could have cost effects on staffing.”
Two new stations coming
Glenview is adding two fire stations, bringing the total to five. One of the new stations will be in The Glen, a large mixed-use development under construction on the former Glenview Naval Air Station site in the village core. The other will be on the east side in an older section of town on Lake Avenue, Sawicki said. Both are scheduled to open in the spring.
Current staff and equipment will be redeployed among the five stations initially, said Fire Chief Daniel Bonkowski, who was a firefighter in Northbrook for 31 years before accepting the position in Glenview in October.
“We’re going to address the need for more personnel as demands change for our services,” Bonkowski said. “We know the 85-and-over population is the fastest growing, and we have more assisted living [facilities] than ever before.”
Glenview has ordered a new ladder truck to replace an older one. The department also is studying its equipment needs, Bonkowski said.
“One of our goals here is to lead a more decentralized organization and increase the level of leadership development within the officers,” Bonkowski said. “We’ll be centrally planned but decentrally executed, with manpower redistributed more effectively.
“The challenge will be to be certain we’re all on the same page.”
Firefighters in both villages spend several hours each day training, sharpening their paramedic skills and learning new rescue or other techniques.
Some of that training is taking place at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy in Glenview. Glenview donated the land and building for the facility, and more than a dozen municipalities are funding its operation. Fire, police and public works personnel can use the facility for training in areas such as hazardous materials clean-up or driving emergency equipment.
“It will be a major advantage to have a training center with multistate impact right in our own back yard,” Sawicki said.
Educating public another duty
Public education is also part of the fire departments’ job. During Fire Prevention Month in October, the Glenview department visits every elementary school classroom in the village to discuss basic fire safety. The department also has been meeting regularly with Glenview Public School District 34 administrators to develop a school incident response plan and help the school with exercises such as lockdown drills.
The Northbrook department targets a different school grade each year for fire prevention visits. Public information also includes announced and unannounced visits to bars and entertainment venues to make sure exits are clear and there are no safety hazards in the buildings.
A new Northbrook initiative is the creation of volunteer emergency response teams. The department will train volunteers from groups such as neighborhood associations and block clubs on how to respond in case of minor emergencies such as downed power lines.
“We’re going to kick off in the fall with neighborhood associations, training a couple of people in each association,” Reardon said. “We want people to have enough of an education so they know what to do and can take care of things themselves if we’re busy.”
Since the threat of terrorism has created “a future full of unknowns,” fire departments will need to continue to adapt and train for terrorist threats, but their day-to-day responsibilities continue to center on providing knowledgeable and compassionate public service, Reardon said.
Reardon recalled receiving a letter several years ago from an elderly couple thanking a firefighter for help in carrying their luggage up a flight of stairs. The firefighter had seen the couple outside their home, looking perplexed. He asked what was wrong and then offered to help.
“That’s nowhere in our job description,” Reardon said. “We really do our darndest to exceed the citizens’ expectations.”
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Fire Department facts
NORTHBROOK
Addresses: Station 11 (headquarters), 740 Dundee Rd.; Station 10, 650 Huehl Rd.; Station 12, 1840 Shermer Rd.
Non-emergency number: 847-272-2141.
Chief: James “Jay” Reardon.
Staff: 68 full-time firefighters, 52 of whom are paramedics; 14 paid-on-call firefighters; one deputy chief, one assistant chief, three full-time and four part-time fire-prevention specialists, one full-time training officer, five full-time and four part-time administrative employees.
Equipment: Two fire engines, one ladder truck, one squad truck, three ambulances, two command cars.
GLENVIEW
Addresses: Station 6 (headquarters), 1815 Glenview Rd.; Station 7, 3507 Glenview Rd.; Station 8, 1901 Landwehr Rd.
Non-emergency number: 847-724-2141.
Chief: Daniel Bonkowski.
Staff: 78 firefighters, 65 of whom are paramedics; two deputy chiefs; one lieutenant; 19 administrative, clerical or communications employees; four fire-prevention specialists.
Equipment: Four fire engines, one ladder truck, three ambulances, one command car.
