Villa Park fire chief retiring after four decades of fire service
After more than 47 years of fire service, Villa Park Fire Chief Ron Rakosnik is set to retire effective Oct. 27.
Rakosnik, who has served as chief for the past 10 years, began his career as a volunteer firefighter with the York Center Fire Protection District in 1975.
Prior to becoming fire chief in Villa Park, Rakosnik worked for the village of Lombard for 28 years, starting as a firefighter/paramedic and working his way up through the ranks to battalion chief in 2007.
In 1997, he gained international and national publicity for educating the public about torchiere-style halogen lamps and the dangers that exist with them. He concluded that the problem stemmed from the heat that was in the tubular halogen bulb. This discovery led to revisions of the standards for halogen bulbs.
On Thursday, the village will honor Rakosnik with a ceremony from 1 to 3 p.m. at Fire Station 81, 1440 S. Ardmore. The public is welcome to attend.