Glen Ellyn Fire Company Seeks Financial Help From Village

The Glen Ellyn Fire Company is asking the village for help as it faces financial difficulties, according to the Daily Herald. 

The fire company brought in $456,000 in 20012 but with funds needed to pay for capital equipment, the projected operating budget is $684,000, according to the article. 

An earlier Chicago Tribune article reported the fire company estimated needing an additional $380,000 per year to prepare for several upcoming expenses. 

The company’s needs include replacing two pumper trucks, which would cost about a million dollars for the pair, and replacing a ladder truck in two years, which will cost $1.2 million, according to the Tribune. Meanwhile, the number of service calls have more than doubled in the last eight years. 

"Our fleet is aging. The fire company will endure but we'll use unreliable equipment and eventually, it'll age and we'll have break downs," the paper quoted Fire Chief Jim Bodony saying. "You can't expect a craftsman to work if he doesn't have his tools and the tools of the fire service are our vehicles and our equipment." 

The company's annual fund-raising drive is slowing with only 24 percent of the 11,500 requests sent out to residents returned with contributions, according to the Daily Herald. 

The fire company is suggesting the village look at reallocating funds to help the company or looking at setting up "some type of free structure," according to the Daily Herald. 

The Daily Herald has more on this article.