Crime & Safety
Leadership Changes at Plainfield Fire Department
One deputy chief set to take over for retiring Eichelberger; another placed on administrative leave.
Two weeks after the board of trustees voted to appoint Deputy Chief Dave Riddle the new Plainfield fire chief, effective Jan. 1, 2015, another deputy chief has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Reached by phone on Thursday, Deputy Chief Jon Stratton confirmed he had been placed on leave but said he could not comment further.
Riddle also declined to comment on the administrative leave, referring questions to fire protection district attorney Tom Gilbert. Gilbert likewise said he could not comment.
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“It’s a personnel matter, and obviously we don’t discuss those,” Riddle said.
Longtime Chief John Eichelberger did not return a call from Patch on Thursday.
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Riddle, the former Channahon fire chief, was hired in 2012.
During a Sept. 15 special meeting, fire board trustees unanimously voted to appoint Riddle the new fire chief, replacing Eichelberger, who is retiring at the end of the year.
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