Oak Lawn Fire Chief Says His Quote in Streit Campaign Mailer is Fake

OAK LAWN, IL -- The Oak Lawn fire chief denied a quote attributed to him in a campaign mailer in which he is quoted as saying that village has had more fire-related deaths than ever this year due to low staffing in the Oak Lawn Fire Department.

The campaign mailer sent to residents by mayoral candidate Robert Streit contains a quote from OLFD Chief George Sheets stating, “Oak Lawn has fewer firefighters even though we’ve had more fire-related deaths this year than ever before.”

“I was taken aback because I never made such a statement, and moreover, it’s 100 percent false,” Sheets said in a written statement to Patch.

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Sheets said not only were there zero fire-related deaths to date in Oak Lawn, “we haven’t had a fire-related death since 2014.”

The year 2014 was exceptional for the village. On Feb. 12, 2014, an elderly woman died in fire that was quickly extinguished by Oak Lawn firefighters when a space heater sparked an oxygen tank being used by the resident. Her caregiver died a few days later.

Later that same month, a man set his parents’ house on fire after he shot his parents and young nephew to death to cover his crimes. The same man committed suicide in front of an off-duty Oak Lawn firefighter who was on his way to work when he saw the house fire and stopped to render assistance.

“In my 34 years of fire and EMS (emergency medical services) I’ve learned to stay out of local politics,” Sheets said. “But I had to respond to blatantly false information that’s being distributed with name attached.”

Oak Lawn’s first responders have found themselves dragged into the political fray by what has amounted to a bitter mayoral campaign between Streit, a long-time trustee, and the incumbent Dr. Sandra Bury.

Streit has also proclaimed that Oak Lawn’s crime rate has soared over the past few years, when FBI Crime Index show that crime has declined.