How many
firefighters does Grayslake have?
The Grayslake
Fire Department currently has 29 full time firefighters and an
additional 25 part time. The 29 full time firefighters consist of 3
shifts of 8 firefighter/Paramedics and 1 daytime firefighter. Each shift works 24 hours and have 48 hours
off staffing the firehouse 24 hours a day with the exception of the
daytime firefighter who works from 8am until 5pm. There is also the Fire Chief
, Deputy Fire Chief , and two fire inspectors who work Monday-Friday
8am-5p.m. staffing the station during the day. Two Part time firefighters
work from 6p.m. until 7a.m. to help give a total of 10 personnel in the
evening. This leaves enough personnel to get three ambulances to a call
or run nearly a full response to a structure fire without calling for
additional help.
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How many fire
stations does Grayslake have?
There are currently two fire stations located in downtown Grayslake and
on Brae Loch Road near the College of Lake County. A cooperative effort
with the Village of Grayslake and the College of Lake County made
the construction of a second fire station possible. This fire station
opened in April of 2004 and has dramatically lowered response times to
the eastern portion of the Grayslake Fire Protection District such as
Grayslake east of Atkinson Road, Wildwood, Gages Lake, and Third Lake.
The second fire station has also assured a timely response to the entire
district east of the railroad tracks in the event of a slow moving or
stopped train. In the past when either a slow moving or stopped train
has blocked intersections the Grayslake Fire Protection District has had
to position vehicles on both sides of the railroad tracks by finding the
nearest open intersection to cross. Round Lake and Gurnee fire
departments have always offered their assistance in the event that
Grayslake apparatus was delayed due to railroad crossing closures.
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Do
firefighters really play checkers all day?
If you want to anger a firefighter, this question will undoubtedly do it
the quickest. Firefighters definitely do not sit around playing checkers
waiting for a fire, those days have been over for a long time.
Firefighters used to put out fires and that was all they did but as time
has passed their jobs have evolved. A typical day will begin at 7a.m.
with a morning briefing between the two shifts passing on details of the
previous shift. After this begins rig checks which entails daily checks
on every vehicle, weekly checks on specific vehicles, monthly checks on
different vehicles for the first two weeks of the month, and inventories
of the ambulances and the Advanced Life Support Engines. Each check is
progressively more thorough and requires a greater amount of time to do.
Monthly checks on a single vehicle can take 3-4 hours with multiple
people. While the team checks vehicles there is also house duties to
perform. These duties include a complete cleaning of the administration
areas, dormitories, day rooms, training rooms, washrooms and vehicle
apparatus bays. Does any one of the vehicles have a problem? Now
is the time to work on fixing this which many times bleeds over into
lunch. Public education tours are usually scheduled during this time and
we always give a fire safety talk too. If uninterrupted, lunch is from
12pm-1pm with many firefighters preparing meals for the rest of the
group. After lunch it's shift training which is prepared by each shift
for all three different shifts. A set schedule from the training
division lets each shift know that they must prepare a shift training,
the type, and the dates. Many times shifts miss trainings due to a call
and each shift must make it up no matter what so multiple trainings are
not uncommon. After shift training is project time giving each
firefighter time to work on any project or responsibility given to them.
Remember the shift trainings? This is the time for the firefighters to
work on them. Other responsibilities include fire inspections, fire
prevention, pre-plans, safety officer, quartermaster, map books, this
website, and many, many more. Firefighters are also allowed one hour of
fitness time either at 7am or 4pm whichever they choose, to stay in
shape and healthy. At 5pm a firefighters day has ended and he is free to
relax in the upstairs house area. Of course many continue to work
usually surfing the internet for the latest in firefighting techniques
to present at their next shift meeting. Dinner is again prepared by the
firefighters and eaten quickly on Tuesday evenings. At 7pm on Tuesday
evenings is when the part time personnel come to the fire station for
their training which usually lasts until 10pm and on duty firefighters
are required to attend. Evenings also see CPR classes, EMT classes,
continuing education classes, and firefighter classes throughout the
week. After training most firefighters retire for the evening after
making sure the station is locked, dishes are washed and training
materials and room are put back to normal. Firefighters are required to
awaken by 6:45am making sure all the clean dishes are put away and the
garbage is taken out. At 7am the process begins all over again. Oh yeah
I left out the calls averaging anywhere from six to twenty per day, did
you say they weren't busy?
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Does the fire
department have paramedics?
All
full time
firefighters are required to become an Illinois state certified
paramedic. This allows all full time firefighters to run both fire and
emergency medical calls. Part time employees are required to become a
state certified EMT-B but many go on to become paramedics. Paramedics
and EMT-B’s are certified in the Condell Medical Center EMS system along
with 6 other area fire departments. Paramedics are trained in the latest
procedures and can treat everything from a sprained ankle to a patient
in full cardiac arrest.
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How many
times does Grayslake have calls?
Grayslake has
a very active fire department and responded to exactly 3,700 calls in 2005.
That’s an average of over 10 calls per day. Approximately 70% of all the
calls were for an ambulance with the majority of the patients
transported to Condell Hospital in Libertyville. The remaining calls
were for Structure Fires, activated alarm systems, aid to other
departments and other miscellaneous types. Ambulance calls generally run
1—1 1/2 hours from the time of the call until they are back in the
station.
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Does the
Grayslake Fire Department only cover Grayslake?
No, the
Grayslake Fire department has a 24 square mile district including
Grayslake, Wildwood, Gages lake, Third Lake and portions of Round Lake
Park, Round Lake Beach, Hainesville, Highland Lake and Fremont Township.
The district has approximately 28,000 residents.
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How many
fires does Grayslake have?
Thanks to an
aggressive public education campaign, the number of structure fires has
significantly decreased over the years even though the number of
residents has quadrupled in the last decade in Grayslake alone. In 2003
the Grayslake Fire Department had 189 structure fires ranging from small
one room fires to fully involved structures. Along with the structure
fires in our own district, we also assist other neighbor fire
departments with help. The Grayslake Fire Department has agreements with
Gurnee and Round Lake Fire Departments sending a vehicle automatically
to their town for any reported structure fires. Grayslake responds
automatically to Gurnee for fires reported on the west side of the
tollway and to Round Lake for any reported fires on the east side of
Cedar Lake Road. We also receive the same help by receiving an automatic
engine from Gurnee for reported fires east of Atkinson Road and from
Round Lake for the West side. This ensures adequate personnel for a
manpower intensive operation. We still have a long way to go to
eliminate the threat of fire destroying homes in our district but you
can bet we’ll keep working toward that goal.
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What
happens if a fire is too big for Grayslake to handle?
Grayslake is a member of MABAS Division 4. MABAS stands for Mutual
Aid Box Alarm System. This system was designed and set up throughout
Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin and is now quickly being
adopted throughout the mid-west because of it's success. This system
consists of different areas which are broken up into different
divisions. Each department must submit cards to their division and each
fire department. These cards contain different levels of alarms starting
with a still alarm then a box alarm increasing to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and
finally 5th. Each level has pre assigned types of vehicles from other
fire departments which would respond if any of the levels of box alarms
are activated. There are different types of box cards for structure
fires, Hazardous Materials, Ambulances, Water and ice rescue, Brush
Fires, and Technical Rescue (Structural Collapse, Trench Rescue,
Confined Space Rescue & High Angle Rescue). If an incident exceeds a
fifth alarm, command has the option to tap into resources in other
divisions, this is called an interdivisional box. With one call,
Grayslake Incident Command has access to a nearly unlimited amount of
resources.
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What
happens when the crews in the station are out on calls, is there anybody
available for another call?
The Grayslake Fire Department is always aware of the manpower
situation in their town and adjust accordingly. If the crews happen to
be out on calls, part time and off duty firefighter / EMT’s get called
to come in and cover the fire station for additional calls. For the
larger box alarms discussed previously, the box cards are automatically
set up for change of quarters companies. If Grayslake activates any box
alarm, an ambulance, fire engine and chief automatically respond to our
fire station to cover any additional calls. These companies, also
trained in using the MABAS box system, have the same unlimited resources
available to them.
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Why did a
fire engine come to our house when we called an ambulance?
The Grayslake Fire Department is set up to run any type of medical
call with any one of its ambulances or two of its engines which are
advanced life support equipped. If the ambulance gets called for an
unresponsive subject not breathing, an engine is automatically
dispatched to assist the ambulance in its resuscitation efforts. Since
the people on the engine are also paramedics the patient receives superb
and timely care. These advanced life support engines can also remain
available to run either a fire call or another rescue call since it is
equipped for both. If the engine crew also happens to be out training or
returning from another call, it can respond quickly if it happens to be
close, and give all care needed while an ambulance responds.
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Where do
the firefighters learn to fight fires?
Each firefighter must complete the Illinois Firefighter 2 state
certification. This class is put on by the Northwest Training
Cooperative which consists of qualified instructors from area fire
departments. This class is held at a number of different fire
departments in our area including Grayslake. Each firefighter learns
about the equipment, how to use it and different tactics and strategies
to fighting fires. Most of all they learn safety for themselves and any
victims. After class is completed they are required to go through live
burn downs. These are dilapidated homes or buildings that are being
destroyed by the property owner. Fires are set in different rooms and
the new firefighters must attack and extinguish the fires. These burn
downs are also done by departments whenever the opportunity presents
itself to provide valuable training to the new firefighters as well as
the veteran firefighters. Grayslake firefighters also receive much
experience through the fires in their district and also from fires in
other towns when Grayslake is called to assist.
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Why do
firefighters respond to alarms with so many trucks?
Firefighters
often say that if an incident isn't properly handled initially, that the
whole incident usually goes downhill from there. Unfortunately the fire
service has learned this from experience and now responding to any type
of incident that might threaten life or property is done with adequate
manpower and equipment. Many crews need to be established at the onset
of a fire including Incident command, fire attack, search and rescue, and
ventilation. Ambulances also respond for any possible victims or
injuries to firefighters. Each crew consists of a minimum of three
firefighters which are assigned to one vehicle. Small one room fires
can usually be handled by three vehicles but as the size of the incident
grows, so does the need for more equipment. If an incident is deemed a
false alarm or a lesser amount of equipment is needed, then incident
command has the option to return the equipment back to the station. This
is why you may see a fire truck driving full lights and sirens and then
turn off their emergency lights while still driving.
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How can I
still be in the Grayslake Fire Protection District if I have a Round
Lake Fire Station across the street?
People often
mistake the fact that fire districts follow city borders. This is simply
not true. Fire districts have changed over the years creating very
different borders from the main cities they protect today. This also
holds true for other taxing districts such as school districts, library
districts and park districts just to name a few. Due to the needs of the
Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District the need arose to have a
fire station on the east side of the Rollins road railroad tracks.
Because of this need the Round Lake Fire Protection District purchased
property on the south side of Hook drive just east of Route 83. Although
their Fire Station #3 is in the Round Lake Fire Protection District,
much of the neighborhood across the street is actually in the Grayslake
Fire Protection District. The Grayslake Fire Protection District
recognized the opportunity to dramatically lower response times to those
residents without spending tax dollars to build redundant protection.
With the cooperation of both fire protection districts, an automatic
agreement was established. This agreement allowed the Round Lake Fire
Protection District to respond automatically with the Grayslake Fire
Protection District when an emergency call is received anywhere north of
Shorewood road. This agreement gives much better service to all
residents located around the Greater Round Lake Fire Station #3. These
types of cooperative responses familiarize each department with the
other and that relationship is important when help is needed from either
fire department.
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What is an
A.R.A.?
A.R.A. stands
for Automatic Response
Agreement. These are agreements by
neighboring fire districts to send equipment to each others towns for
certain types of calls. For reported structure fires, an engine is
dispatched automatically from either Gurnee or Round Lake. The
department responding is chosen by the area where the fire is reported.
All fires on the east side of Atkinson road receive a Gurnee engine and
the west side receive an engine from Round Lake. Grayslake also responds
to reported fires in Gurnee on the west side of the tollway and to Round
Lake on the east side of Cedar Lake Road. These agreements insure proper
initial staffing at these manpower intensive operations and familiarize
each department with the other. This is important since Lake County fire
departments rely so heavily on each other. These agreements are also in
place for other types of calls. Below is a list of some of the
additional ARA's Grayslake currently has in place.
