Wheaton to charge for rescue services

People on the receiving end of lifesaving services in Wheaton could find themselves getting billed for the assistance.

The city council this week adopted a local law giving the fire department leeway to bill for special rescue services, such as using the Jaws of Life after an accident, sending a dive team in for a water rescue, or digging someone out of a trench.

"We're not looking to generate revenue," Wheaton Fire Chief Gregory Berk said. "We're looking at it that the citizens of Wheaton should not have to bear the cost."

As businesses and governments, look for ways to cut expenses in a troubled economy, some fire departments are developing ways to pass along costs.

Wheaton isn't the first community to impose a fee on emergency procedures. Both Glen Ellyn and Addison have similar ordinances that draw their bite from a state law enacted in 2007 that lets municipalities recoup certain costs.

Glen Ellyn, however, hasn't charged anyone since their law was put in place in August 2007. Fire Chief Scott Raffensparger said they're most concerned about being covered in the event of a significant accident that requires the department to bring in expensive equipment or expertise.

They don't bill for vehicle extrications.

"A car pin-in accident? That's just a normal service to us," Raffensparger said.

By comparison, Addison has billed for car extrications for years - but only nonresidents. Village residents get a pass.

"I'm not certain how much longer we'll be able to do that," Addison Fire Chief Leigh Fabbri said. "It's tough economic times."

While Wheaton does plan to bill for those more common services, the bigger issue, according to officials with all three departments, is the expensive, labour-intensive rescues.

"A trench rescue could be eight to 10 hours and have literally 100 firefighters working on it," Wheaton's Berk said. "That's very expensive for citizens of this community.

"It's not fair," he said. "It should be borne by the people who cause the incident."

There isn't a flat rate for each type of disaster. Rather, the services for each type of rescue worker are billed on an hourly rate.

Even then, Addison's Fabbri said, it's still not truly recovering the cost.

"We have accumulated a large amount of equipment and personnel training hours to rescue someone from a collapsed trench or confined space or radio tower where they're working," he said. "There isn't any way that billing for that service is going to cover the expense of preparing for it."