A bill before the Illinois State Senate could impact the Brookfield, and to a much lesser extent, the North Riverside Fire Departments.
The bill would prohibit any municipal fire department that employs full-time firefighters and is subject to a collective bargaining agreement from hiring part-time firefighters, unless the part-timers met the same qualifications of full-time firefighters and unless the firefighters’ union agrees.
The bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives 71-43 on May 8. It is currently before the Senate rules committee.
The two members of the Illinois House who represent Brookfield split on the bill. Representative Robert Molaro (D-Chicago) voted for the bill while Representative Bob Biggins (R-Elmhurst) voted against the bill.
“The municipalities should be able to hire part-time workers if they want to without the state government telling them they can’t,” said Biggins. “It’s an intrusion on the part of the state.”
Molaro could not be reached for comment.
The bill would not affect Riverside, which does not employ any full-time firefighters, but instead employs a part-time chief and a pool of paid-on-call firefighters.
Brookfield employs six paid-on-call firefighters to supplement its 24 full-time firefighters, according to Brookfield Fire Chief Patrick Lenzi. Only one of the part-timers is fully qualified to drive a fire truck and handle a fire hose, Lenzi said.
The others are receiving training to become fully qualified, with three meeting the minimum requirements of being a Certified Firefighter II said Lenzi. Certified Firefighter II is the minimum qualification the state requires, said Lenzi, adding that the part-timers come in handy during busy times.
“When we get storms, and we’re running multiple calls, nine or 10 calls at once, it’s nice to have the paid-on-call people close by,” Lenzi said. “Because in those situations they really do help out quite a bit with being able to put manpower at several different scenes at once.
“It’s nice to have the paid-on-call force in town to beef up the on-duty shift staff, which can be as little as six guys. They show up at the scene and they assist in a lot of outside duties, connecting the supply hose from the fire hydrant to the pump of the fire engine so that we have a constant water supply.”
Only Firefighter II employees are allowed to do interior fire fighting, Lenzi said.
Lenzi said that he would like to hire more paid-on-call firefighters, but he is waiting to see if the bill becomes law. Paid-on-call firefighters make from $9.50 to $11 an hour in Brookfield, Lenzi said. Full-time firefighters average around $60,000 a year in Brookfield and start at about $40,000 a year.
North Riverside only employs two part-time firefighters, said North Riverside Fire Chief Ken Rouleau. One of those is a photographer and the other is a full-time paramedic who mostly acts as a firefighter at funerals and parades. Rouleau said that the legislation would have almost no impact on North Riverside if it becomes law.
The primary sponsor of the legislation in the Illinois House, Representative Brandon Phelps of downstate Harrisburg, said that the primary purpose of the legislation is to insure that only qualified firefighters fight fires.
“It was a priority of the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois,” said Phelps.
Phelps added that municipalities would still have the authority to set standards for the qualifications of firefighters and that he just wanted to make sure that part-timers meet the same standards as full-time firefighters.
State Senator Louis Viverito (D-Burbank), whose 11th District includes most of Brookfield, said that he has not yet made up his mind how he would vote on the bill in the Senate.
“I’m still evaluating it,” said Viverito. “Normally I would listen to the municipalities.”
Efforts to reach State Senator Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst), whose 21st District includes parts of North Riverside and Brookfield, for comment were unsuccessful.
