Kankakee City council approves $111,897 in fire-department bills; chief warns fleet is aging

Fire Chief LaRoche reported to the Kankakee City Council on the department’s October activity and asked members to approve the monthly bills, which the council did on a roll-call vote.

"We had 46 sworn firefighters on the roster. We have 51 budgeted for the fiscal year," Fire Chief LaRoche said, noting 42 were assigned to shift and several staff were covering vacancies while the training and community-risk officers were out. LaRoche said the department currently listed 44 active personnel and expected to begin filling open positions once a contract issue was resolved.

LaRoche highlighted several bills and maintenance costs. "Our fuel bill for the month was $4,678. We had a major repair to Engine 6. It was, dollars 20693.53¢ from Fleet Pride. Our bill from Cancom was $33,887.88," he said, and listed door repairs, annual physicals and other routine items. The chief said the department paid $35,210 for annual physicals that include bloodwork, periodic chest X-rays and cardiac stress tests.

The chief and aldermen discussed the department’s aging apparatus. LaRoche said several frontline engines and ambulances were well past recommended replacement years and that lead times for new apparatus can be two years or longer. "We are still waiting on the new apparatus to be delivered hopefully in April with a new fire engine," he said, and added that older units had required repeated emergency repairs and parts were sometimes hard to source.

The council approved payment of the fire-department bills in the amount of $111,897.52. The motion was made by Alderman Ozinga and seconded by Alderman Jones. A roll-call vote recorded ayes from Aldermen Jones, Prude, O'Brien, Ozinga, Navaras, Cobbs and Swanson.

Other items in the chief’s report included a low overtime total for October ($3,285), 687 calls for service for the month including five confirmed structure fires with an estimated $93,000 in damages, 444 EMS calls with patient contact, and EMS billing and collections figures for the calendar year to date.

LaRoche also summarized fire-prevention activities for October—school drills, 18 public education events, 126 inspections and the installation of 11 smoke detectors and four carbon-monoxide detectors—and said training continued while some officers covered shifts.

Council members asked questions about physicals, specific vehicle repair costs and report formatting; the chief said staff would check apparent invoice typos and continue providing the vehicle-status report in monthly packets.

The approved bills will be paid as recorded in the council roll call.