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Evanston Fire Department history Part 77
From Phil Stenholm:
Another chapter in the history of the Evanston Fire Department (EFD):
The Spirits of the EFD
Back in 1980-81, the number of sworn personnel in the EFD dropped from 114 to 106 due to natural attrition, eventually reaching 104. The role of Fire Equipment Mechanic moved to Fleet Services, with the city hiring a civilian mechanic to handle maintenance of EFD vehicles. Apparatus repair shifted from Fire Station #1 to the city yards. Additionally, firefighters absent due to injury or illness were no longer replaced by extra firefighters assigned to each shift.
In an agreement between IAFF Local 742 and the City of Evanston, the minimum shift staffing was set at 26 in 1980 - the lowest since 1926, when Evanston's population was around 50,000. Each of the two truck companies and five engine companies had a captain and two firefighters, while two paramedics were assigned to each of the two MICU ambulances, with the shift commander (F-2) overseeing operations.
As part of this 26-man minimum staffing, Squad 21 was pulled from frontline service and only staffed by one firefighter from Station #1 (typically from Truck Co. 21) when specialized rescue equipment was needed. If there were no available firefighters at Station #1, Squad 21 couldn't respond until someone arrived to provide manpower.
All three ambulances were stationed at Station #1. A-1 handled calls east of Asbury Avenue (inclusive), and A-2 covered west of Asbury. In 1985, following complaints from paramedics about uneven call distribution during Bears games, the arbitrary Asbury boundary was removed. The two ambulances began alternating every-other call, allowing paramedics not "on the bubble" to stay at the hospital longer or even take a break.
A minimum of six paramedics were assigned per shift - two per ambulance and the other two to Truck Co. 21, which became the "jump company" for the unmanned but fully equipped MICU Ambulance 3 at Station #1. If Truck Co. 21 wasn't in quarters, Ambulance 3 couldn't be staffed. Similarly, if Truck Co. 22 was out of service, Truck Co. 21 couldn't staff Ambulance 3 even if they were available.
There were instances where Truck Co. 21 was ready to respond but a mutual aid ambulance had to be called from Wilmette or Skokie simply because Truck Co. 22 was down. Before paramedics and advanced life support gear were assigned to all companies, delays caused by waiting for outside ambulances could be critical.
Vacations and Kelly Days were scheduled in advance and covered by the five extra firefighters assigned to each shift. Since unpredictable absences due to injury or illness couldn't be planned for, off-duty firefighters filled in for absent colleagues, working voluntary "hire-back" overtime at time-and-a-half for the first eight hours and straight time for the remaining 16. On average, two firefighters were absent daily, so the seven eliminated positions remained in the budget as "ghost" overtime slots.
In the 1980s, IAFF Local 742 negotiated a change allowing full-time pay for all 24-hour shifts worked as replacements. This increased the number of required "ghost" positions from seven to nine, leading to further reductions in EFD staffing from 106 to 104. While these nine "replacement" firefighters didn't physically exist, their salaries stayed in the budget and were pooled into an overtime fund for actual replacements.
Starting January 1982, City of Evanston Police/Fire communications operators took over all fire dispatching duties. Though half their salary came from each department, they received one paycheck from the city. Operators wore patches on both sleeves - PD on the left and FD on the right.
A few months later, the number of operators increased from seven to nine. Previously, one operator handled all 911 calls and radio traffic during the midnight shift. After analyzing a fatal fire where mistakes were made under heavy workload, the city decided to have two operators on duty at all times.
A police supervisor oversaw the communications center, with limited fire department input on operational matters. Desk officers occasionally filled in as operators but firefighters were not allowed to do so.
Before 1982, the communications operator would relay a fire report and tone it out, often transferring follow-up radio traffic to a firefighter at the Station #1 desk. With the new system, all radio traffic went directly to "Dispatch," which logged and acknowledged messages. This eliminated the need to timestamp every transmission.
Around this time, the EFD adopted a version of the Phoenix Fire Department's Dispatch & Incident Command System developed by Chief Alan Brunacini in the 1970s. Changes included using plain English instead of codes, referring to stations by number, conducting one daily radio test, and adopting new incident command terminology.
In 1987, ADT installed a CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) system to monitor hundreds of fire and burglar alarms connected to the communications center. It also automated call logging, replacing manual records kept by operators. Mobile data terminals (MDTs) were installed in apparatus starting in 1994.
On New Year's Eve 1984, a devastating fire destroyed the Byer Museum of the Arts at 1700 Hinman Avenue. Besides losing a historic landmark, the museum lost most of its priceless artifacts, including the unique "Treasures of the Orient" collection. Two truck companies from Evanston and a truck company from Skokie responded but estimated losses reached over $5 million.
Later, the insurance company revised the loss estimate to about $1 million after finding some supposedly lost items elsewhere. Litigation over the discrepancy continued for years. If accurate, the initial $5 million estimate would have been the highest loss from an Evanston fire to date.
The exact cause of the blaze remains unclear. Lead investigator FF/PM Dave Pettinger suspected arson since the fire alarm was disabled and no origin point was found. However, Chief Sam Hicks attributed it to an electrical issue.
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