Western Springs Fire Dept. to Make Temporary Move

Fire department operations will move to fire station #2 for three weeks starting Monday.

Due to parking lot construction work set to begin Monday at the Western Springs Fire Department headquarters at 4353 Wolf Road, operations will temporarily move to station #2 at 5501 Grand Ave., for three weeks. The move is necessary because the planned construction limits emergency apparatus access and response, according to the Village of Western Springs. The delivery of emergency services will continue as usual with the only noticeable difference being that the headquarters station will be unoccupied during that time period. For questions, e-mail Chief Patrick Kenny at pkenny@wsprings.com or call (708) 246-1800 ext. 171.

• Photos (1)

Historical Western Springs

Western Springs: The Fire Department Champs of 1937

Western Springs’ population was barely 4,000 in 1937. But, its volunteer firefighters managed to win national honors at a tournament held in Chicago’s Soldier Field.

By 1937, the Village of Western Springs' fire department had been conducting training drills every Monday night for three or four years. So, when the City of Chicago announced a national tournament for fire departments, Chief Waldo Erickson didn’t hesitate to enter his volunteers, limited to six in number. See second photo.   Thirty-one departments from 9 states were represented, all competing for a $500 grand prize ($8,000 in 2013 dollars).  See third photo. An estimated 100,000 spectators watched the contests at Chicago’s Soldier Field. These events included wall scaling, raising ladders, life line rescue, alarm response, and hose layout. The latter event required the teams to lay 300 feet of 2½  inch hose from a hydrant, connect their …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (6)

Photo Gallery: La Grange, Western Springs Firefighters Live-Burn Training on Ogden

Firefighters from the Western Springs and La Grange departments got together over the weekend with the Hinsdale Fire Department to practice in a burning building.

The Hinsdale Fire Department and four other area departments. including La Grange and Western Springs, got together Saturday and Sunday for live-burn training at a vacant building at 421 E. Ogden Ave. in Hinsdale.  Hinsdale firefighter/paramedic Steve Tullis said the point of the training was to practice large-scale operations for fires that demand a multi-company response.  Tullis is the spokesman for the Hinsdale Fire Department, and he explained the event best in an email to Patch: "Oak Brook, Western Springs, La Grange and Clarendon Hills were all there to work on multi-company operations, planing for big events such as a large structure fire in Hinsdale. We worked on large-area searches inside a structure, hose-line advancement, truck…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (15)

Steaks to Fry in Western Springs

The Western Springs Rotary Club hosts its annual Veteran Steak Fry on Sept. 7. Help a veteran or first responder out by getting one for yourself and donating an extra.

If you see smoke in downtown Western Springs on Friday, Sept. 7, there's no cause for alarm. Just follow your nose as the smell of grilled beef perfumes the neighborhood air to Tower Green where members of the Western Springs Rotary Club will be grilling steaks in honor of local veterans and first responders. The yearly Rotary Club Veteran Steak Fry always draws a great crowd. How could it not, you might ask, when Casey's Market is supplying these mouth-watering cuts of meat? Tickets to the event get you food and drinks for $15. The steak fry kicks off at noon and runs until 1:30 p.m. Since it's on a Friday, maybe you can ask your boss for a long lunch break, or, just bring the whole office! The event was started in 2000 by the Western …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Voting Meeting: 18 New Firefighters Sworn In, New Village Website Contracted

Village Hall fills for the ceremony; also, a couple of other contracts for various Village improvements are approved.

The meeting room of Village Hall was jam-packed on Monday evening for the swearing-in of 18 new probationary paid-on-call firefighters for the Western Springs Department of Fire & EMS Services. The eighteen new firefighters are Paul Barry, Brian Byrne, Robert Cattin, Mark Crist, Ryan Dudek, Kevin Gay, Richard Griffith, Karl Hammond, Patrick Hynes, Christopher Langstaff, John Larson, Matthew McMillin, McHale Nelson, Robert Papineau, Geoffery Pender, Mia Scavuzzo, James Walsh and Matthew Wieringa. “A real good bunch of guys—I’m proud of them,” said Lt. Bryan Ogren, who introduced the class, who have been training since January and were selected from an initially-interested group of about 50. Ogren talked briefly about the experience of …

•  6 Comments
• Photos (1)

Five Years In, Fire Department’s Explorer Post Recruiting New Blood

Hey teens, want to be a firefighter? Western Springs’ Explorer Post graduated three members to the Department recently, and seven others to nearby towns.

This year, three of the newest members of the Western Springs Department of Fire and Emergency Services arrived straight out of the Department’s own Explorer Post 17—and now the Department is looking for replacements. As many replacements as it can get, actually. Young people aged 14-21 are invited to apply for Explorer Post 17, a developmental program for aspiring firefighters or EMS personnel in and around Western Springs that began five years ago and has expanded to over a dozen members. (The organization is affiliated with the Boy Scouts’ Des Plaines Valley Council.) Meeting twice monthly, Explorer members take classes—both lectures and hands-on training—in both the Illinois State Fire Marshal Firefighter II and Emergency First …

• Photos (1)

Fire Department Spotlights Accomplishments in 2011 Report

Highlights, statistics and analysis from the Department’s annual report for the 2011 year, marked by the opening of the South Fire Station.

The 2011 year for the Western Springs Department of Fire & EMS was marked above all by the unveiling of the South (Ridgewood) Fire Station on Sep. 17, new Director Pat Kenny wrote in his first annual report (unusually, written for a year in which he was not a member of the Department.) Kenny credited his predecessor, outgoing director Tony Bednarz (whom he replaced at the beginning of 2012,) with bringing the project—which had been discussed for decades—to fruition, also mentioning the “vision” of Village staff and elected officials. “The result was a neighborhood-friendly structure constructed, as well as furnished, with emergency and non-emergency equipment with no financial impact to our residents,” Kenny wrote in a letter to the …

• Photos (1)

Battling Deadly ALS, Village Firefighter Giving Back to Foundation

Dick Jacobson, a Forest Hills resident living with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease,) is organizing Western Springs’ first ever “Tag Day” to fundraise for the Les Turner ALS Foundation.

At first, Dick Jacobson thought the sore calf was a running injury. The sobering truth came from a neurologist last September: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS. Lou Gehrig’s disease. A disease of the motor neurons, ALS causes muscles to stop responding, leading to loss of function. It progresses inexorably, and almost always rapidly. In 2012, just as when its most famous patient was diagnosed in 1939, it has no known cure and virtually no treatment. Even the cause is unknown. It is eventually fatal. So for patients like Jacobson—a nine-year Western Springs resident, father of four, husband, pet owner and local paid-on-call firefighter—and their families, an ALS diagnosis can be overwhelming. And for the Jacobsons, and many others like …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

WSFD Responds to Dryer Fire at Adventist La Grange

La Grange and La Grange Park firefighters, ambulance crews also answer smoke, fire and medical calls.

Firefighters from Western Springs La Grange, La Grange Park and five other departments responded to a dryer fire in the laundry room of the environmental services building at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital, 5101 S. Willow Springs Road, at about 12:40 a.m. Feb. 27.   The dryer burned up causing, “a lot of smoke,” said La Grange Fire Chief William J. Bryzgalski. The Brookfield, Lyons, McCook and Willow Springs fire departments and Pleasantview Fire Protection District also responded.

• Photos (1)