Rick Johnson said he has never been more excited about the future of the Lake Zurich Fire Rescue Department.
After 27 years with the department, Johnson, 53, of Park Ridge, was sworn in as deputy chief on March 21.
“It’s an incredible opportunity,” he said. “We have a wonderful fire chief who’s been an excellent mentor, and I couldn’t be happier. We face a lot of exciting challenges. This is an opportunity to reset the Fire Department and point it in a new direction.”
With the arrival of new Chief John Malcolm in October, Lake Zurich got the opportunity to “reinvent” the department, Johnson said.
“It’s a great time to be here,” he said.
Malcolm has consulted with a series of staff committees that have not been utilized in many years, Johnson said.
“It got lost over the years that we had a wonderful committee system,” he said. “The chief is putting out his vision and letting the committees come back with ideas, including apparatus, fitness, records management, how to get out in the community, how to respond to the community.”
Under Malcolm and now Johnson, Lake Zurich firefighters will expand their presence in the community, Johnson said.
“The chief is very big on getting out the community and increasing our profile in the community,” he said. “We want to get involved in a lot of aspects of the community around us.”
In his 27 years in Lake Zurich, Johnson spent the last 22 as a lieutenant and the first five as a firefighter/paramedic, he said. Before that, he served two years as a firefighter for Elk Grove Township Fire Department.
Johnson was among the first 11 full-time firefighters hired in Lake Zurich in 1989, Village President Tom Poynton said.
“As a result, Rick had a personal involvement in fashioning virtually every aspect of the department’s operations,” Poynton said.
Before becoming a firefighter, Johnson played professional baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization, Poynton said.
“Rick is a dedicated family man who loves to travel, hike and play any sport,” he said.
As deputy chief, Johnson will largely oversee day-to-day operations, he said.
“It’s kind of an umbrella for anything that happens in the Fire Department,” Johnson said of his position. “I handle operational needs, evaluating personnel concerns, union matters, dealing with the public when they have concerns, and a whole host of administrative things.”
Johnson credited his fellow firefighter/paramedics with helping him get the job.
“The guys and girls influenced me and got me where I am,” he said. “The standards they held over the years got me here. I’m working for them and the village.”
