Grant from Illinois American Water helps Firefighters

Technical rescue firefighters from three fire protection districts in the southwest suburbs, participated in two training sessions due in part to a grant provided by Illinois American Water.

The Lemont Fire Protection District was a recipient of the Illinois American Water 2019 Firefighter Grant Program and used the grant funds to purchase an assortment of technical rescue gear. The firefighter grant program provides financial assistance to fire and emergency organizations serving communities in the company’s service areas. The annual program awards grants to provide personal protective gear, communications equipment, firefighting tools, water handling equipment, training materials and classroom programs.

“The Lemont Fire Protection District is fortunate to have been able to purchase the Harken Lok Head Rescue Winch with funds provided through a grant from Illinois American Water,” stated Lemont Lieutenant Bill Anderson, Training Director for the Combined Agency Response Team program (CART). “This piece of equipment will allow us as rescuers to be able to quickly and more efficiently remove a person from harm, in both confined space rescue and a vertical rescue environment.”

The Lemont Fire Protection District then formed a partnership in Technical Rescue Training with fellow fire protection districts in Orland and Lockport. CART is composed of 57 agencies in the region and over 200 rescuers. This team specializes in the four disciplines of rescue including confined space, rope access, trench and structural collapse. As a skills refresher, the CART rescuers train once a month, rotating focus on the four disciplines.

Once the new equipment was purchased and delivered, Lt. Anderson reached out to Illinois American Water to ask if they could utilize this new equipment with a hands-on training at the company’s Santa Fe Water Reclamation Facility in Woodridge, IL.

On Friday, February 21, Illinois American Water hosted the first group of 17 CART rescuers from Lemont, Orland and Lockport Township Fire Districts. The rescuers trained on confined space rescue and held a second training on Friday, February 28.

Walter Voegel, Sr. Superintendent of Production Operations for Illinois American Water’s Chicago Metro District, stated “We know the importance of supporting the firefighters that serve the same communities we serve. We want to ensure we help them in any way we can and are proud to see our support in action during their training scenarios.”

About Illinois American Water

Illinois American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.3 million people. American Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in Belleville.

With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 6,800 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.