Fire Chief of the Year embraces value of public service
Elk Grove Village Fire Chief Richard Mikel - the 2018 Illinois Fire Chief of the Year - calls his profession the job he always wanted to do since the days of watching fire trucks pull out of the local firehouse as a kid.
After getting his first job at 18 as a paid on-call firefighter, Mikel says it took some more time to realize that the job isn't just fighting fires - it's also about providing service to the public.
"We went to fires. As young firefighters, that's what we wanted to do," Mikel said during a village board meeting Tuesday. "There's nothing quite like the feeling of going into a burning building as you're crawling in and people are trying to come out and you've got flames coming over your head and you're searching for where the fire is and you're looking for people along the way. It's a tremendous experience for those of us who do it."
"But as time goes on, you realize there's gotta be something different that we can do."
Mikel, who was honored by his colleagues in Elk Grove this week after being recognized Oct. 16 by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, said it's incumbent upon fire departments to increase public education efforts, advocate for buildings to be constructed according to model building codes and with sprinklers, and increase training for firefighters.
"It's what we need to do as a fire service," Mikel said. "We need to get out of the firehouse and into the community."