Streamwood shortsighted over firefighter strength
Our village reopened Station 31 (behind the Jewel on Irving Park) for only a single day. When I questioned Village Manager Gary O'Rourke he claimed it was because no firefighters called out sick and no one was on vacation although this has not happened in the last seven months.
The village now admits that we do not have the proper staffing in our fire department for three fire stations. They admit it by stating with no firefighters out sick or on vacation, Streamwood can staff Station 31.
Anyone who runs any kind of business or any group for that matter knows that you need to account for sick time and vacation time. This event is a clear demonstration that our village leaders have no clue what their jobs are.
We must demand action, a resident living three blocks from open Station 32 should not have to wait 11 minutes for help to arrive. The national standard is less than five minutes.
That is completely unacceptable for a village like our town, Streamwood.
Our mayor, village manager and board of trustees put themselves before our firefighters and they got caught with their pants down. We cannot stand for this, we need proper staffing in our fire department. We must not let our village leaders continue to place our lives at risk.
We all deserve better, our lives count on it.
Matthew Dobson
Streamwood