Village Reverses Course On Fire Station Decision In Glenview

GLENVIEW, IL — After hearing more than 50 speakers over the course of several hours Monday night during a special meeting, the Glenview Village Board realized a recent decision to close Fire Station No. 13 was the wrong call for many in the community. As a result, the governing body has opted to keep the fire station at 831 East Lake Ave. open.

This was exciting news for Drew Duffy. The Glenbrook South High School sophomore was the organizer of a rally in support of keeping the fire station open Saturday in Glenview.

"Monday’s meeting went well. The passionate stories residents told and valuable information shared by experienced firefighters made the position of residents crystal clear," Duffy told Patch. "The Village really had no other choice other than to keep the station open after all of the more than 50 comments spoke out against the closure or, at the very least, were frustrated with the lack of transparency. I do appreciate the Trustees for recognizing where they went wrong."

All five Glenview fire stations will remain open at this time, according to Village officials, while they consider other recommendations from what they call "in-depth data that has been reviewed over the last two years."

Last month, the Village Board unanimously directed village staff to realign existing resources from Fire Station No. 13 to the four other village stations, despite concerns from the local firefighter's union and residents. The decision in essence would have closed the fire station.

"We were proud to witness our residents and business owners make their voices heard for over three hours last evening," Glenview Professional Firefighters Association IAFF Local 4186 said in a statement. "Humbled and touched are just a couple of the emotions we felt as we listened attentively to your opinions, feelings, stories, emotions, pleas, desires, wants and needs last night."

Duffy said Saturday's rally in front of the fire station was a success. He counted well over 300 attendees.

"Firefighters explained to residents the serous issues that would have come with closing Station 13," Duffy said. "People showed up with their signs and enthusiasm to make their voice heard.

While the firefighters union is pleased with the decision to keep Fire Station No. 13 open, another conclusion by the Village Board announced Monday night was not met with the same approval. The new consensus of the trustees includes evaluating a "jump" company model, which means when a call comes in firefighters "jump" onto the appropriate vehicle to respond to the call whether it is for a fire, ambulance, hazardous materials spill or rescue. That concept would increase access to the number of vehicles available to transport patients, according to the Village, which aligns with the Board’s objective to match response services with community need.

"They recognized they should go to you [business owners and residents] before they made a big change... But they are again, based on flawed information, coming up with a creative solution to a problem that doesn't exist," the union said in its statement. "The jump companies (a.k.a. cross-staffing) sounds good, but the concept brings new risks, new cuts and longer response times again. We will continue to speak out against any attempts to cut EMS, fire and rescue services."

The goal, according to the Village in a release, "remains to address the identified increase in community need for ambulance service, given that more than 65 percent of current emergency calls in Glenview are now for emergency medical care. That may include increasing the number of ambulances in service 24 hours a day."

The total number of fire and EMS responders employed will remain unchanged, according to the Village. Officials said they are hoping to make the fire department more "versatile," while providing relief to other ambulance crews in Glenview. The Village also said Fire Chief Tony DeRose and command staff members will develop and implement the new plan and, at the Board’s direction, review and report back on the progress.

"This whole event is going to have a lasting effect on how Glenview residents see their local government. I think a sense of trust and a view of competency has been lost," Duffy said. "What’s clear is that far more communication with residents is necessary. I feel optimistic that we can see important changes made after the upcoming municipal election."

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