the firehouse sceneIs a monthly publication of the

Harlem-Roscoe Fire Protection District

Station Gossip & AnnouncementsHey, Huffy, feeling a little old? Seems someone thought he was Brandon’s dad.The department is in the process of putting timing sensors on lights at all three stations. So now, say the kitchen light, won’t stay on all day. They have it set that when you enter the room or leave the room, the lights will come on or go off. Assistant Chief Ken O’Dell has been timing the lights and making adjustments and says that the rooms that had two switches now have one dummy switch. So, don’t call the Chief if you can’t shut a light off in a room.just leave, it will shut off on its own in 20 seconds. Fill the Boot for M.D.A this year will be August 28 and 29. Firefi ghters, your contacts will be:

Station One - Lt. Jerry McCormickStation Two - Lt. Doug WolfeStation Three - Lt. Bob Stark

We will present the check on September 7th at the 2009 M.D.A. Labor Day Telethon Live on WREX-TVFirefi ghters, all help will be appreciated.Fall Festival Parade Day times for fi refi ghters

8am - donuts & coffee with short HRFA meeting.9am- Department Picture10am - lineup for parade11am - parade

•

•

•

•••

•••••

Mike takes one for the kids!

Kelly, need directions?

Postage

Harlem-Roscoe FirePO Box 450Roscoe, IL 61073

The Firehouse Scene - Page 12www.harlemroscoefi re.com

August 2009 Fire Chief Don Shoevlin Editor Sheryl Drost

What’s Missing - Can you fi nd all 20?

Helicopter Aids in RescuesSee pages 3-5

From the Chief’s DeskBy Fire Chief Don Shoevlin

Welcome to the dog days of summer. It is hard to believe that this time next month school will be back in session. Where has summer gone or where has it been? I myself have found this summer weather to be easy to get accustomed to. As I write this though, they are speaking of the warm and humid stuff we all have been expecting to arrive. We can also be quite certain to have some of that

weather when schools are back in session.

Your fi re department continues to be active this past month with responding to calls for our services as well as out and about at community events. We have begun planning for the Roscoe Lions Fall Festival, which is only a month away, and planning our annual Fire Prevention Open House. Our open house this year will be held on Sunday October 4th at Station #3 which is located at 13974 Willowbrook Road. More information will be coming in the near future.

Please continue to check out our website www.harlemroscefi re.com to keep up with the progress of the department and individuals. As always don’t hesitate to contact me or stop by if I can be of any assistance.

Harlem-Roscoe Fire has recently become a member of Nixle. Nixle is a free service that allows you to receive trusted, up-to-the-minute, neighborhood information for where you live or work. Nixle provides communities throughout the country with news and information that is both proximate and personally relevant. Nixle makes information instantly available over web, mobile, and smart phone devices. Nixle is a Community Information Service providing one source for access to credible real-time community information.

Nixle will allow us notifi cation to communities of any emergencies that might affect them and give us another venue of notifi cation of events being held in the community that we will be attending. Registering for Nixle is available to all citizens.

To Join Nixle:

Go to www.nixle.comClick “Register Now”Create an account by choosing a UserName and passwordEnter an email address and cell phone number where you would like to receive messagesEnter your address (or a nearby intersection)Click “Sign Me Up” and you’re done.

••••

••

Burning ComplaintStory & photo by Sheryl Drost

Police Offi cers called in Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters to extinguish a burning pile of debris that wasn’t allowed under local burning laws at the corner of Willowbrook Road and McCurry Road.

A pile of construction debris was burning when fi refi ghters arrived.

Firefi ghters Steve Shoevlin and Mark Schafman quickly extinguish the fi re.

Firefi ghter Adam Eich uses a pike pole to get to some smoldering material.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 2 The Firehouse Scene - Page 11 www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

Water Shuttle DrillPhotos by Debbie Rykowski and taken from video shot by Sheryl Drost

Town of Turtle Fire Department hosted a water movement drill on August 1 at the Turtle International Airport. Harlem-Roscoe sent one of our 3000 gallon tankers to participate.

The scenarioThe alarm was paged out for help at 9am. The fi rst four pumper trucks would arrive and set up two groups of four portable folding tanks that would feed two aerial trucks out in the fi eld. The tankers would then continue to arrive and dump their water into the next open tank. They would then head to one of three designated fi ll sites. It was also planned to have two pumpers go down during the event and replaced by another pumper.

Town of Turtle Fire Chief Tim Huffman was very happy with the days events and grateful for everyone’s participation. He says the goal was to sustain a movement of over 1500 gallons per minute, but they would see numbers up to 3500 gpm. One fi refi ghter calculated on his blackberry that during one 30-minute period they pumped over 105,000 gallons of water.

29 vehicles participated in the event.

Harlem-Roscoe’s Tanker 773 arrives on scene.

Firefi ghters Mickey Rykowski and Greg Wernick dump the water from Tanker 773 on one of their passes through.

Shuttle Snapshots

Fatal AccidentStory by Sheryl DrostPhotos by Sheryl Drost & Charlotte Alms

Patrons at a local McDonalds and next door Mobil gas station had quite a scare on July 20 when a Jeep drove off Elevator Road and crashed right in front of them. Witnesses said the Jeep crashed into an unoccupied Grand Prix before coming to rest against the parking lot light pole. They said the force of the crash sent the Grand Prix spinning into the gas station parking lot, scattering anyone fi lling their vehicles at the pumps. Luckily it did not hit anything or anyone.

Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters extricated the driver from a Jeep that was now laying on its side and the driver was airlifted by Lifeline helicopter to the hospital. Sadly the driver died the next day at OSF Saint Anthony Hospital.

Assistant Chief Ken O’Dell helps light the area where Lt. Ron Klaman uses an extrication tool to cut the roof off the Jeep.

Several fi refi ghters help extricate the patient after the roof was cut.

The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle.

Firefi ghters pick up extrication tools after sucessfully extricating the driver from the Jeep.

The force of the collision sent an un-occupied Grand Prix spinning into the gas station parking lot next door.

Elevator Road was shut down and Lifl eline Helicopter was landed on the road. The driver was air-lifted to the hospital.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 10 The Firehouse Scene - Page 3 www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

At the ReadyBy Randy Lovelace, fi refi ghter/EMT

As fi refi ghters for the Harlem-Roscoe Fire Department, we are committed to being at the ready for any call. We’ve given our word that we will apply our training and department resources to help those in need, whenever that need arises.

Our department answers about 2500 calls annually, according to recent

records. That works out to about 7 calls a day. With a department consisting of over 80 members, and a usual requirement of 3 to 4 personnel responding per call, that equates to nearly 100 calls per year, per fi refi ghter – assuming everything goes according to averages (which never really happens).

Many of our calls come at the busiest, most hectic times of the year. And, since we are a group of people from within our own community, our lives are just as busy as the lives of those we serve. Rephrased just a little – the need for us is greatest when we have the least time to meet that need.

Our families want to take vacations, we want to go camping and visiting with relatives at reunions. Everyone wants to slow down a bit around the holidays, take in the people and the fun, and forget about responsibilities.

Our community, just as any other, is also suffering the effects of the poor economy. We have to work longer hours just to feel secure that our job will remain ours. We have to take on part time work to meet the ever increasing costs of living, even though we’re taking furloughs because our primary employers are unable to pay us for a full year. We fi nd ourselves more stressed because of worries about money. That stress, as many of us have certainly learned, robs us of energy and makes our sleep fi tful at best.

Couple the needs of our family with the needs of the department during stressful times, and we fi nd that it’s hard to continue running calls, diffi cult to cut out time for our training, and nearly impossible to get involved in the myriad activities in which the fi re department is involved.

Let’s get back to the opening statement of this article: “we are committed to being at the ready for any call”. We’ve covered what we have in common with the rest of our community. Let’s see if we can discover what makes us different. We’re highly trained fi refi ghters, working weekly to improve our skills with known tasks, and learning new skills for new types of tasking that we’ve found required of us. We’re a highly motivated group of people with a strong desire to meet each and every challenge with the very best we can bring to the scene – the very best equipment and the very best people to use that equipment.

On a scene, we’re well trained and well practiced to work together, to rely on each other to get diffi cult and dangerous tasks completed. We trust each other to cover our backsides during that work.

Back again to that one big word: commitment. There are many synonyms to that word: charge, imperative, must, need, obligation, responsibility. We’ve pledged ourselves to being ever ready, meeting our obligations to community in their times of need. We’ve agreed to place the mantle of responsibility squarely on our shoulders.

When we execute the swearing in ceremony, we do that in front of other fi refi ghters, our offi cers, our chief, our department trustees, and our family. We do this not for the show, not for the celebrity of being accepted to the department, but because these people are witness to our acceptance of the responsibilities that go along with being a fi refi ghter! They will remember, as should we all, that no matter what we’re going through, we will arrive ready to tackle the toughest challenges, at the toughest times in the toughest conditions. We pledged our support to the community unconditionally, without restriction.

When you lie down for the night, ready to get your well-deserved rest, put the thought in your head that there will be a call, that you will be needed. When that pager goes off, you’re ready without thought, you’re up, dressed and out the door knowing simply that someone needs your help. Ask any mother with a newborn baby if she’s ever too tired to hear the slightest sound from the crib. Even though that mother is bone-tired, at the fi rst whimper, she’s wide awake. Each fi refi ghter needs to be just like that mother – ready and willing to do what must be done, without question or complaint.

Call response isn’t expected to be 24 hours a day for every person on the department; we do all have other responsibilities as well. Any response less than our best should be unacceptable to each of us.

Commitment can often times be tiring, and can regularly cause us to wonder why we pledged ourselves to this work. But, after a well-executed scene, you can take pleasure in the fact that you were trained and ready, and that you responded as well as anyone could have ever hoped!

Happy 40th Birthday

Sparky gives a big birthday hug to Marcie Ball (wife of fi refi ghter Jeff Ball and daughter to retired Fire Chief Oscar Presley) during her birthday party. Sparky has known Marcie her whole life and had to make a surprise visit at her party to wish her well. We all wish you a big Happy Birthday, Marcie!

I-90 Accident in Construction ZoneStory & photos by Sheryl Drost

Harlem-Roscoe and North Park Fire responded to I-90 on July 31 for two motorcyclists traveling in a group that had crashed; both riders were thrown from their bikes. Due to heavy traffi c and construction on I-90, ambulances were only able to access the scene from the construction side. The patients had to be handed over the concrete barriers and rescuers had to climb over them as well. One rider was transported by Harlem-Roscoe’s ambulance to the hospital. Lifeline helicopter was landed on the construction side as well and air-lifted the second rider to the hospital.

The two riders were thrown from their bikes.

Equipment and the patients had to be lifted over the concrete barriers to get to the ambulance and helicopter.

Even Paramedics had to jump the concrete barriers.

The second patient would be transported by ambulance after he was handed over the concrete barrier.

Paramedics help the Lifeline crew take the patient to the helicopter.

EMTs help the Lifeline crew load the injured biker into the helicopter.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 4 The Firehouse Scene -Page 9www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

Roscoe Fall FestivalSeptember 11-13, 2009

FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION RAFFLE 1st Place - $500.002nd Place - $250.003rd Place - $100.00

Tickets for this year’s raffl e can be purchased at the administration offi ce at Station One before the festival or during the festival at the Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters Association’s tent.

.

Cub Scout Egg Drop - Photos by Sheryl Drost

HRFD Firefi ghters participated in the Annual Blackhawk Cub Scout Day Camp Egg Drop on July 24. The department also kept an ambulance on scene during the event.

The egg drop was defi nitely a highlight of the week. 57 eggs wrapped in everything from egg cartons, to foam, to even a snoopy stuffed animal fell one after another from the bucket of the department’s aerial truck 85’ in the air. The Scouts did better this year with 20 eggs (plus two leader’s eggs) surviving out of the 57 eggs that were dropped; last year, only 7 out of 63 survived.

Left, Mark Schafman, Paul Stanphill, Captain Mike Drost, & DC John Presley pose with Christi Wilson and her egg that didn’t make it!. Maybe next year Christi!

BirthdaysAugust7th Tom Lake9th Jeff Morris10th John Heins11th Rico VanderHeyden14th Tim Schrader22nd Brad Knipp25th Dona Zopp26th Bob Clark27th Mike Sherbon28th Tom Person Keith Lincoln

September3rd Ramona Baldoni-Lake5th Adam Eich12th Bart Munger13th Marty Green Mike Powell Joe Koeninger23rd Debbie Rykowski25th Carmella Young

September Breakfast List

Donuts & Coffee will be served with short meeting at 8am.

Total Calls for 20091336

Volume 14, Issue 8The Firehouse Scene is a monthly newsletter produced by the Harlem-Roscoe F.P.D.

Editor-in-Chief - Chief Don ShoevlinEditor, Layout, Writer, Photo - Sheryl Drost

The Firehouse Scene is available at Station One - 10544 Main Street in Roscoe and on the department’s website after the second Sunday each month.

www.harlemroscoefi re.comEmail submissions to: sdrost@harlemroscoefi re.com

Certifi cates AwardedPhoto by Sheryl Drost

Deputy Chief John Bergeron and Chief Don Shoevlin present the following fi refi ghters with their certifi cates from recent trainings. L-r Tom Lake - Rope Operations, John Donovan - FFII & Hazardous Materials Awareness, Captain Jay Alms - Fire Instructor I, Rope Operations & Fire Offi cer I.

Tuesday Night Training SnapshotsPhotos by Sheryl Drost

July 21 - Ladder Training - Instructor Mark Soppe

July 21 - Rope Training - Instructor Tom Lake

July 21 - Hose Training - Instructor Radi Huggard

July 21 - Rope Training - Instructor Ramona Baldoni-Lake

Still want a Smart Car?Found this on the internet....

The Firehouse Scene -Page 8 The Firehouse Scene - Page 5 www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

Bicyclist Struck by CarStory & Photo by Sheryl Drost

Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters responded to a bike vs. car accident on Hwy 251 just south of Swanson Road on July 31. Firefi ghters landed the Lifeline Helicopter for the second time in one day. Police had already closed the southbound lane of Hwy 251, so the helicopter was landed on the road. Seems a cyclist had tried to cross the highway when he was hit by a car.

The mangled bike leans against the guard rail while EMT’s work on the cyclist.

The driver of the car was unhurt although very shook up after the crash.

EMT’s continue to work on the cyclist as the helicopter comes in for a landing.

Lifeline Helicopter was landed on Hwy 251 after police closed the Southbound lane. The crew heads to the second scene of the day with Harlem-Roscoe.

AccidentsPhotos by Chief Don Shoevlin & Sheryl Drost

08/01/09 I-90 exit ramp to Rockton Road

7/14/09 Hwy 173 at entrance to I-90.

7/14/09 Hwy 173 at entrance to I-90.

07/31/09 Jet Ski accident on Rock River off Ventura Blvd.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 6 The Firehouse Scene - Page 7

National Night Out Photos by Sheryl Drost

National Night Out is an annual event designed to strengthen our communities by encouraging neighborhoods to engage in stronger relationships with each other and with their local law enforcement partners. It’s also the perfect opportunity to get to know your neighbors even better. This year Harlem-Roscoe again joined in on the events held within our fi re district. Machesney Park’s was held at the corner of Hwy 173 & Hwy 251 at the Machesney Crossings parking lot. Roscoe’s was held at Porter Park on McDonald Road in Roscoe. Here are some pictures at both events:

The Firehouse Scene - Page 6 The Firehouse Scene - Page 7

National Night Out Photos by Sheryl Drost

National Night Out is an annual event designed to strengthen our communities by encouraging neighborhoods to engage in stronger relationships with each other and with their local law enforcement partners. It’s also the perfect opportunity to get to know your neighbors even better. This year Harlem-Roscoe again joined in on the events held within our fi re district. Machesney Park’s was held at the corner of Hwy 173 & Hwy 251 at the Machesney Crossings parking lot. Roscoe’s was held at Porter Park on McDonald Road in Roscoe. Here are some pictures at both events:

Certifi cates AwardedPhoto by Sheryl Drost

Deputy Chief John Bergeron and Chief Don Shoevlin present the following fi refi ghters with their certifi cates from recent trainings. L-r Tom Lake - Rope Operations, John Donovan - FFII & Hazardous Materials Awareness, Captain Jay Alms - Fire Instructor I, Rope Operations & Fire Offi cer I.

Tuesday Night Training SnapshotsPhotos by Sheryl Drost

July 21 - Ladder Training - Instructor Mark Soppe

July 21 - Rope Training - Instructor Tom Lake

July 21 - Hose Training - Instructor Radi Huggard

July 21 - Rope Training - Instructor Ramona Baldoni-Lake

Still want a Smart Car?Found this on the internet....

The Firehouse Scene -Page 8 The Firehouse Scene - Page 5 www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

Bicyclist Struck by CarStory & Photo by Sheryl Drost

Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters responded to a bike vs. car accident on Hwy 251 just south of Swanson Road on July 31. Firefi ghters landed the Lifeline Helicopter for the second time in one day. Police had already closed the southbound lane of Hwy 251, so the helicopter was landed on the road. Seems a cyclist had tried to cross the highway when he was hit by a car.

The mangled bike leans against the guard rail while EMT’s work on the cyclist.

The driver of the car was unhurt although very shook up after the crash.

EMT’s continue to work on the cyclist as the helicopter comes in for a landing.

Lifeline Helicopter was landed on Hwy 251 after police closed the Southbound lane. The crew heads to the second scene of the day with Harlem-Roscoe.

AccidentsPhotos by Chief Don Shoevlin & Sheryl Drost

08/01/09 I-90 exit ramp to Rockton Road

7/14/09 Hwy 173 at entrance to I-90.

7/14/09 Hwy 173 at entrance to I-90.

07/31/09 Jet Ski accident on Rock River off Ventura Blvd.

I-90 Accident in Construction ZoneStory & photos by Sheryl Drost

Harlem-Roscoe and North Park Fire responded to I-90 on July 31 for two motorcyclists traveling in a group that had crashed; both riders were thrown from their bikes. Due to heavy traffi c and construction on I-90, ambulances were only able to access the scene from the construction side. The patients had to be handed over the concrete barriers and rescuers had to climb over them as well. One rider was transported by Harlem-Roscoe’s ambulance to the hospital. Lifeline helicopter was landed on the construction side as well and air-lifted the second rider to the hospital.

The two riders were thrown from their bikes.

Equipment and the patients had to be lifted over the concrete barriers to get to the ambulance and helicopter.

Even Paramedics had to jump the concrete barriers.

The second patient would be transported by ambulance after he was handed over the concrete barrier.

Paramedics help the Lifeline crew take the patient to the helicopter.

EMTs help the Lifeline crew load the injured biker into the helicopter.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 4 The Firehouse Scene -Page 9www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

Roscoe Fall FestivalSeptember 11-13, 2009

FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION RAFFLE 1st Place - $500.002nd Place - $250.003rd Place - $100.00

Tickets for this year’s raffl e can be purchased at the administration offi ce at Station One before the festival or during the festival at the Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters Association’s tent.

.

Cub Scout Egg Drop - Photos by Sheryl Drost

HRFD Firefi ghters participated in the Annual Blackhawk Cub Scout Day Camp Egg Drop on July 24. The department also kept an ambulance on scene during the event.

The egg drop was defi nitely a highlight of the week. 57 eggs wrapped in everything from egg cartons, to foam, to even a snoopy stuffed animal fell one after another from the bucket of the department’s aerial truck 85’ in the air. The Scouts did better this year with 20 eggs (plus two leader’s eggs) surviving out of the 57 eggs that were dropped; last year, only 7 out of 63 survived.

Left, Mark Schafman, Paul Stanphill, Captain Mike Drost, & DC John Presley pose with Christi Wilson and her egg that didn’t make it!. Maybe next year Christi!

BirthdaysAugust7th Tom Lake9th Jeff Morris10th John Heins11th Rico VanderHeyden14th Tim Schrader22nd Brad Knipp25th Dona Zopp26th Bob Clark27th Mike Sherbon28th Tom Person Keith Lincoln

September3rd Ramona Baldoni-Lake5th Adam Eich12th Bart Munger13th Marty Green Mike Powell Joe Koeninger23rd Debbie Rykowski25th Carmella Young

September Breakfast List

Donuts & Coffee will be served with short meeting at 8am.

Total Calls for 20091336

Volume 14, Issue 8The Firehouse Scene is a monthly newsletter produced by the Harlem-Roscoe F.P.D.

Editor-in-Chief - Chief Don ShoevlinEditor, Layout, Writer, Photo - Sheryl Drost

The Firehouse Scene is available at Station One - 10544 Main Street in Roscoe and on the department’s website after the second Sunday each month.

www.harlemroscoefi re.comEmail submissions to: sdrost@harlemroscoefi re.com

Fatal AccidentStory by Sheryl DrostPhotos by Sheryl Drost & Charlotte Alms

Patrons at a local McDonalds and next door Mobil gas station had quite a scare on July 20 when a Jeep drove off Elevator Road and crashed right in front of them. Witnesses said the Jeep crashed into an unoccupied Grand Prix before coming to rest against the parking lot light pole. They said the force of the crash sent the Grand Prix spinning into the gas station parking lot, scattering anyone fi lling their vehicles at the pumps. Luckily it did not hit anything or anyone.

Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters extricated the driver from a Jeep that was now laying on its side and the driver was airlifted by Lifeline helicopter to the hospital. Sadly the driver died the next day at OSF Saint Anthony Hospital.

Assistant Chief Ken O’Dell helps light the area where Lt. Ron Klaman uses an extrication tool to cut the roof off the Jeep.

Several fi refi ghters help extricate the patient after the roof was cut.

The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle.

Firefi ghters pick up extrication tools after sucessfully extricating the driver from the Jeep.

The force of the collision sent an un-occupied Grand Prix spinning into the gas station parking lot next door.

Elevator Road was shut down and Lifl eline Helicopter was landed on the road. The driver was air-lifted to the hospital.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 10 The Firehouse Scene - Page 3 www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

At the ReadyBy Randy Lovelace, fi refi ghter/EMT

As fi refi ghters for the Harlem-Roscoe Fire Department, we are committed to being at the ready for any call. We’ve given our word that we will apply our training and department resources to help those in need, whenever that need arises.

Our department answers about 2500 calls annually, according to recent

records. That works out to about 7 calls a day. With a department consisting of over 80 members, and a usual requirement of 3 to 4 personnel responding per call, that equates to nearly 100 calls per year, per fi refi ghter – assuming everything goes according to averages (which never really happens).

Many of our calls come at the busiest, most hectic times of the year. And, since we are a group of people from within our own community, our lives are just as busy as the lives of those we serve. Rephrased just a little – the need for us is greatest when we have the least time to meet that need.

Our families want to take vacations, we want to go camping and visiting with relatives at reunions. Everyone wants to slow down a bit around the holidays, take in the people and the fun, and forget about responsibilities.

Our community, just as any other, is also suffering the effects of the poor economy. We have to work longer hours just to feel secure that our job will remain ours. We have to take on part time work to meet the ever increasing costs of living, even though we’re taking furloughs because our primary employers are unable to pay us for a full year. We fi nd ourselves more stressed because of worries about money. That stress, as many of us have certainly learned, robs us of energy and makes our sleep fi tful at best.

Couple the needs of our family with the needs of the department during stressful times, and we fi nd that it’s hard to continue running calls, diffi cult to cut out time for our training, and nearly impossible to get involved in the myriad activities in which the fi re department is involved.

Let’s get back to the opening statement of this article: “we are committed to being at the ready for any call”. We’ve covered what we have in common with the rest of our community. Let’s see if we can discover what makes us different. We’re highly trained fi refi ghters, working weekly to improve our skills with known tasks, and learning new skills for new types of tasking that we’ve found required of us. We’re a highly motivated group of people with a strong desire to meet each and every challenge with the very best we can bring to the scene – the very best equipment and the very best people to use that equipment.

On a scene, we’re well trained and well practiced to work together, to rely on each other to get diffi cult and dangerous tasks completed. We trust each other to cover our backsides during that work.

Back again to that one big word: commitment. There are many synonyms to that word: charge, imperative, must, need, obligation, responsibility. We’ve pledged ourselves to being ever ready, meeting our obligations to community in their times of need. We’ve agreed to place the mantle of responsibility squarely on our shoulders.

When we execute the swearing in ceremony, we do that in front of other fi refi ghters, our offi cers, our chief, our department trustees, and our family. We do this not for the show, not for the celebrity of being accepted to the department, but because these people are witness to our acceptance of the responsibilities that go along with being a fi refi ghter! They will remember, as should we all, that no matter what we’re going through, we will arrive ready to tackle the toughest challenges, at the toughest times in the toughest conditions. We pledged our support to the community unconditionally, without restriction.

When you lie down for the night, ready to get your well-deserved rest, put the thought in your head that there will be a call, that you will be needed. When that pager goes off, you’re ready without thought, you’re up, dressed and out the door knowing simply that someone needs your help. Ask any mother with a newborn baby if she’s ever too tired to hear the slightest sound from the crib. Even though that mother is bone-tired, at the fi rst whimper, she’s wide awake. Each fi refi ghter needs to be just like that mother – ready and willing to do what must be done, without question or complaint.

Call response isn’t expected to be 24 hours a day for every person on the department; we do all have other responsibilities as well. Any response less than our best should be unacceptable to each of us.

Commitment can often times be tiring, and can regularly cause us to wonder why we pledged ourselves to this work. But, after a well-executed scene, you can take pleasure in the fact that you were trained and ready, and that you responded as well as anyone could have ever hoped!

Happy 40th Birthday

Sparky gives a big birthday hug to Marcie Ball (wife of fi refi ghter Jeff Ball and daughter to retired Fire Chief Oscar Presley) during her birthday party. Sparky has known Marcie her whole life and had to make a surprise visit at her party to wish her well. We all wish you a big Happy Birthday, Marcie!

From the Chief’s DeskBy Fire Chief Don Shoevlin

Welcome to the dog days of summer. It is hard to believe that this time next month school will be back in session. Where has summer gone or where has it been? I myself have found this summer weather to be easy to get accustomed to. As I write this though, they are speaking of the warm and humid stuff we all have been expecting to arrive. We can also be quite certain to have some of that

weather when schools are back in session.

Your fi re department continues to be active this past month with responding to calls for our services as well as out and about at community events. We have begun planning for the Roscoe Lions Fall Festival, which is only a month away, and planning our annual Fire Prevention Open House. Our open house this year will be held on Sunday October 4th at Station #3 which is located at 13974 Willowbrook Road. More information will be coming in the near future.

Please continue to check out our website www.harlemroscefi re.com to keep up with the progress of the department and individuals. As always don’t hesitate to contact me or stop by if I can be of any assistance.

Harlem-Roscoe Fire has recently become a member of Nixle. Nixle is a free service that allows you to receive trusted, up-to-the-minute, neighborhood information for where you live or work. Nixle provides communities throughout the country with news and information that is both proximate and personally relevant. Nixle makes information instantly available over web, mobile, and smart phone devices. Nixle is a Community Information Service providing one source for access to credible real-time community information.

Nixle will allow us notifi cation to communities of any emergencies that might affect them and give us another venue of notifi cation of events being held in the community that we will be attending. Registering for Nixle is available to all citizens.

To Join Nixle:

Go to www.nixle.comClick “Register Now”Create an account by choosing a UserName and passwordEnter an email address and cell phone number where you would like to receive messagesEnter your address (or a nearby intersection)Click “Sign Me Up” and you’re done.

••••

••

Burning ComplaintStory & photo by Sheryl Drost

Police Offi cers called in Harlem-Roscoe Firefi ghters to extinguish a burning pile of debris that wasn’t allowed under local burning laws at the corner of Willowbrook Road and McCurry Road.

A pile of construction debris was burning when fi refi ghters arrived.

Firefi ghters Steve Shoevlin and Mark Schafman quickly extinguish the fi re.

Firefi ghter Adam Eich uses a pike pole to get to some smoldering material.

The Firehouse Scene - Page 2 The Firehouse Scene - Page 11 www.harlemroscoefi re.comwww.harlemroscoefi re.com

Water Shuttle DrillPhotos by Debbie Rykowski and taken from video shot by Sheryl Drost

Town of Turtle Fire Department hosted a water movement drill on August 1 at the Turtle International Airport. Harlem-Roscoe sent one of our 3000 gallon tankers to participate.

The scenarioThe alarm was paged out for help at 9am. The fi rst four pumper trucks would arrive and set up two groups of four portable folding tanks that would feed two aerial trucks out in the fi eld. The tankers would then continue to arrive and dump their water into the next open tank. They would then head to one of three designated fi ll sites. It was also planned to have two pumpers go down during the event and replaced by another pumper.

Town of Turtle Fire Chief Tim Huffman was very happy with the days events and grateful for everyone’s participation. He says the goal was to sustain a movement of over 1500 gallons per minute, but they would see numbers up to 3500 gpm. One fi refi ghter calculated on his blackberry that during one 30-minute period they pumped over 105,000 gallons of water.

29 vehicles participated in the event.

Harlem-Roscoe’s Tanker 773 arrives on scene.

Firefi ghters Mickey Rykowski and Greg Wernick dump the water from Tanker 773 on one of their passes through.

Shuttle Snapshots

the firehouse sceneIs a monthly publication of the

Harlem-Roscoe Fire Protection District

Station Gossip & AnnouncementsHey, Huffy, feeling a little old? Seems someone thought he was Brandon’s dad.The department is in the process of putting timing sensors on lights at all three stations. So now, say the kitchen light, won’t stay on all day. They have it set that when you enter the room or leave the room, the lights will come on or go off. Assistant Chief Ken O’Dell has been timing the lights and making adjustments and says that the rooms that had two switches now have one dummy switch. So, don’t call the Chief if you can’t shut a light off in a room.just leave, it will shut off on its own in 20 seconds. Fill the Boot for M.D.A this year will be August 28 and 29. Firefi ghters, your contacts will be:

Station One - Lt. Jerry McCormickStation Two - Lt. Doug WolfeStation Three - Lt. Bob Stark

We will present the check on September 7th at the 2009 M.D.A. Labor Day Telethon Live on WREX-TVFirefi ghters, all help will be appreciated.Fall Festival Parade Day times for fi refi ghters

8am - donuts & coffee with short HRFA meeting.9am- Department Picture10am - lineup for parade11am - parade

•

•

•

•••

•••••

Mike takes one for the kids!

Kelly, need directions?

Postage

Harlem-Roscoe FirePO Box 450Roscoe, IL 61073

The Firehouse Scene - Page 12www.harlemroscoefi re.com

August 2009 Fire Chief Don Shoevlin Editor Sheryl Drost

What’s Missing - Can you fi nd all 20?

Helicopter Aids in RescuesSee pages 3-5