Controversy surrounds referendum flyer from Pingree Grove fire district
The Pingree Grove and Countryside Fire Protection District chief and a resident who is a former Elgin assistant fire chief disagree about the referendum proposal on Tuesday's ballot, as well as an informational flyer about response times.
Resident Tim Maroder, who retired from the Elgin Fire Department in 2015 and is a Plato Township trustee, opposes the referendum asking voters to borrow $8.5 million to build two new fire stations. The plan has long been advocated by Pingree Grove Fire Chief Mitch Crocetti, who is Plato Township supervisor.
Maroder also objected to a "disingenuous" informational flyer sent by the district to its residents.
The flyer says one of the district's goals is "to be on the scene of every call within six minutes or less, which cannot be done today with the location of the current stations." At the 6-minute mark, heart and brain tissue start to die from a lack of oxygen in patients suffering from cardiac arrest or a stroke, the flyer says.
Maroder said the flyer gives the impression that, if the referendum is approved, residents can expect the fire department to be at their homes within six minutes of calling 911. But one must take into account time for KaneComm to dispatch the fire department, or about 90 seconds, and time for firefighters to jump into vehicles and leave the fire station, Maroder said. There are also unknowns like traffic and railroad crossings, he said.
"When you start throwing times in there, then you are creating unrealistic expectations for the public and you are setting yourself up for failure when you are not meeting them," he said.
Crocetti said the flyer makes no promises.
The district, which comprises 50 square miles, doesn't have precise calculations about future call response times, he said. The hope is to hit the six-minute mark or below after firefighters are dispatched by KaneComm, Crocetti said, but he acknowledged that doesn't include the time between the 911 call and dispatch. "That's not under our control," he said.
Regardless, Crocetti said, building the two new stations will result in lower average response times, which are now nearly 11 minutes in the south area of the district and up to 12½ minutes in the southernmost end, he said. The average response time in the area served by Station 3 in Pingree Grove is just under 5 minutes, he said.
As for the $8.5 million building plan, Maroder says it's excessive, partly because some of the future growth is expected to be annexed by Elgin. Maroder advocated a less costly plan to expand and add living quarters to Station 2 on Rippburger Road.
Crocetti said that only improving the Rippburger fire station, an old building, wouldn't be enough for the growing needs of the district. "We are looking at fixing this for 50 years in the future, not just a Band-Aid (approach) for the next four or five years," he said.