Search on for new fire chief

Buffalo Grove started a search to replace its fire chief and may have a new head of the department in 90 days.

The village board on Monday voted to hire the PAR group for $21,000 to do a national search for a chief.

Chief Tim Sashko recently announced that he will be taking the head position in the Mundelein fire department.

Buffalo Grove trustees said they chose PAR Group over the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association because the firm has a record of finding chiefs who are also good leaders in general.

Heidi Voorhees, president of the PAR Group, said the firm will be sending out letters and advertisements around the country. They will narrow down to a pool of 20 to 25 candidates initially.

The search will, in the end, provide no fewer than five candidates to be interviewed and will also include background checks.

"We do our best to reach out to everyone in the fire safety community," Voorhees said.

The search will also include meeting with current employees of the department to get a feel for the Buffalo Grove environment.

"We want to make sure the candidates we bring forward are the right fit," she said.

She said the firm will have a candidate to put forward in about 90 days.

Trustee Bruce Kahn said the fire department has had the reputation of improving with each successive chief, and the village expects the same with the new hire.

In the meantime, Village Manager Bill Brimm said that he will be working to appoint an interim chief within the next few weeks.

He said he should have an appointment, at the latest, by the board's Oct. 15 meeting but may have a name by the end of this week. Sashko is slated to move to the Mundelein department Oct. 22.

Sashko, 48, has been Buffalo Grove's chief since 2002 and was named the Illinois Fire Chief of the Year last year. He lives in Mundelein and announced his decision to move after that village voted on the proposal last month.

Mundelein has been looking for a chief since last year, when Randy Justus announced his retirement.