Elgin Community College had been looking to purchase a ladder truck for the new Public Safety Training Center in Burlington, West Dundee fire Chief Randy Freise said.

The Fire Department has two, one a 75-foot aerial ladder truck that is 26 years old and has been kept operational as a backup.

"With Carpentersville having a 100-foot ladder truck and West Dundee having a 100-foot ladder truck, I think it's sufficient to cover the area," Freise said. "The 75-foot ladder truck is not critical to our operation. We could sell it, and we'd be sharing resources and saving some money as far as maintenance on a third truck we don't necessarily need to have."

He was able to negotiate with Elgin Community College on a price of $60,000. Appraisal values came in between $40,000 on the low end and $60,000 on the high end, Freise said."With Carpentersville having a 100-foot ladder truck and West Dundee having a 100-foot ladder truck, I think it's sufficient to cover the area," Freise said. "The 75-foot ladder truck is not critical to our operation. We could sell it, and we'd be sharing resources and saving some money as far as maintenance on a third truck we don't necessarily need to have." He was able to negotiate with Elgin Community College on a price of $60,000. Appraisal values came in between $40,000 on the low end and $60,000 on the high end, Freise said. "With (the truck) approaching the 30-year mark, that's significant because the value goes down significantly," Freise said. "If we decide to sell it, this is the most we'd get for it. Considering our economic environment, this is a good time to sell, and at the same time it's a benefit for Elgin Community College." "With (the truck) approaching the 30-year mark, that's significant because the value goes down significantly," Freise said. "If we decide to sell it, this is the most we'd get for it. Considering our economic environment, this is a good time to sell, and at the same time it's a benefit for Elgin Community College."

They were about to respond to a call for wires down around 12:45pm, but instead found smoke pouring out of their own agency.

Burritt says the cause originated as an electrical problem in the Rescue Unit located inside the building.

Newport Fire responded and the flames and smoke was contained quickly, but not before damaging all of the Poland trucks to some degree, and the building itself as well.

"It's still unclear how much damage has been sustained," said Chief Burritt. "We'll be evaluating the equipment and structural damage over the next several days."

Then, a turn for the better... an entire community of firefighters came together in a show of solidarity to help them out.

Volunteers from Newport, Schuyler, East Herkimer, Frankfort, Frankfort Center, Mohawk, Salisbury, and many others spent hours cleaning up equipment this evening.

Chief Burritt said Poland's firefighters are out of commission for at least the next 24-36 hours, but after that, they will be volunteering at nearby Newport, Deerfield, Remsen and Barneveld agencies.

"HCESD 9 and its contracted service provider CFVFD are the Fire and EMS services for this territory. The Bridgeland fire station (Station 13) is a part of the plan of HCESD 9 and CFVFD to provide coverage for the growing western part of HCESD 9" said Amy Ramon, CFVFD Fire Chief, and Commissioner Betty Boren Avery. "Also, HCESD 9 and CFVFD look at population trends and current station locations to evaluate station locations."  

The single story fire station building will be 19,000 square feet and will include four to five apparatus bays, living quarters, a training/conference room, work rooms, a decontamination room, turn-out gear space, EMS storage, and a physical wellness area.

But thanks to a federal loan passed through by Central Electric Cooperative in Mitchell, Linke and the crew now have a dependable, modern truck. The unveiling of the $265,000 truck was the highlight of a May 21 open house at the station. The $212,000 zero-interest loan came from the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Economic Development and Grant Program, or REDLG.