Skip to content

Condition: Post with Page_List

Listen
Search
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

Elgin City Council agrees to pull fire engine out of service to save money

Fire engine

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Elgin City Council voted Wednesday to pull a fire engine out of service for most of the year in a cost-cutting move.

In a move estimated to save the city $400,000 and forgo layoffs, the fire department will use a two-person ambulance, instead of a fire engine manned by three people some days at Station 6, just west of the Fox River.


Fire Chief Rob Cagann said about 80 percent of the calls to Station 6 are medical emergencies that can be handled by an ambulance crew. He said it won't affect response times or require firefighter layoffs, and would be implemented only when overtime would be incurred to man the fire engine.

Elgin Association of Firefighters Local 43 opposed the move, but Mayor David Kaptain said they didn't come up with anything viable.

"They didn't come back with anything viable. I think it was the time to negotiate, but that time is gone. It's our prerogative to make the changes," he said.

The union was exempt from pay freeze imposed on other city departments.