New fire chief, officials take over in Lombard
Lombard welcomed eight firefighting officials including a chief to new positions Thursday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd at village hall.
“It's not that we're looking to make changes, but we're looking to move on, and with moving on, you're going to have changes,” Village President William Mueller said. “We're proud of our fire department and we're especially proud of anyone who's going to be recognized tonight.”
The first men recognized Thursday night were Mike Torrence, who was sworn in as fire chief, and Jerry Howell, who was promoted to assistant fire chief. Jeffrey Holst received a promotion to battalion chief and Frank Gallione and Michael Heimbecker rose to the lieutenant rank. Charles Riforgiate was named fire marshal and two new firefighters, Nathaneal Noon and Dietrich Herndobler, were also sworn in Thursday night. All eight men assume their duties today.
“I love working for the village of Lombard. It's something I always wanted to do, although I did go to school to be a police officer,” said Torrence, a 32-year veteran of the department. “This is a new fire department and we're going to carry it forward.”
While the atmosphere at the village board meeting turned firefighter promotion ceremony was one of celebration, officials also discussed an operational assessment of the fire department that suggested a stronger focus on leadership depth and development and risk management.
“The assessment overall is a very positive assessment of the Lombard Fire Department,” said William Balling, the department's interim chief and a consultant who prepared the assessment.
The report did not come without a few concerns that must be addressed, such as response times of more than six minutes and 30 seconds to east central and west central Lombard, Balling said.
“We can't solve this problem alone; clearly we need to work cooperatively with other governmental agencies,” Balling said.
Cooperating with neighboring fire departments is a strategy Torrence and Howell agree will help the department.
“Municipalities are facing the same challenges,” Howell said. “Reaching out and partnering with neighboring agencies in a greater way is one way to address them.”
The operational assessment also suggested the department develop a risk management plan, which it does not have, and work to reduce the number of calls it receives. In 2009, the Lombard Fire Department received more than 7,000 calls, according to department records.
Lombard trustees will discuss the fire department operational assessment during a workshop at their next meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4.