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Kankakee fire department purchases lifting airbags, upgrades dispatch and approves $110,163.93 in bills
Summary
The Kankakee City Public Safety Committee heard a fire department report on staffing, equipment purchases (including new lifting airbags and dispatch upgrades), vehicle maintenance and EMS billing totals, and approved $110,163.93 in fire-related bills.
Kankakee City Fire Chief reported personnel counts, equipment purchases and maintenance costs and the Public Safety Committee approved $110,163.93 in fire-related bills at its March 5 meeting.
The Fire Chief said the department currently has 44 active personnel, including assigned staff in administration, the fire prevention bureau and community risk reduction, with several personnel off on injury or attending paramedic training. For February, the department's bills totaled $110,163.93.
Notable expenditures itemized in the report included $33,887.88 paid to Cancom, $10,190 for new lifting airbags and rescue equipment, $9,328.88 for a new digital dispatch system, $11,473.40 for higher-than-normal maintenance, and $4,155.70 for fuel. The chief said crews received in-service training on the new lifting airbags and conducted drills that included cribbing, stabilization and rope-and-knot practice.
On operational metrics, the chief said the department responded to a high number of mutual-aid calls outside city limits in February and that current calendar-year fire loss stands at $119,500. The department tracked two suspected overdoses in the city so far in 2025 and has worked with the coroner's office on overdose tracking.
Alderman Johnson asked whether the lifting airbags were a new capability; the Fire Chief replied they were replacements for equipment that had reached the end of its useful life and that crews trained on the new gear. The chief said the new engine is expected in late 2026 and the new tower ladder in late 2027 pending availability of used apparatus from a vendor.
The committee approved the fire bills on a motion by Alderwoman Swanson, seconded by Alderman DeVaris; the roll call recorded Alderman Jones, Alderman Prude, Alderman O'Brien, Alderman Swanson, Alderman Novaros and Alderman Cobbs voting "aye," and the motion passed.
The chief also reported EMS and fire billing collections for calendar year 2024 (total $4,255,489.99) and described community programs including smoke- and carbon-monoxide-detector installations, a senior "file of life" medical-information packet, and plans to coordinate Narcan training and distribution at an upcoming neighborhood meeting.
