New Lenox Fire Protection District Appoints Dan Turner as Deputy Chief

Article courtesy of a New Lenox Fire Protection District news release:

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Dan Turner has assisted NIFSAB with various projects over the years. The photo above is from a video shoot of a house burn in 2001.

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Newly appointed New Lenox Deputy Chief Dan Turner

On January 16th, the New Lenox Fire Protection District (NLFPD) held a swearing in ceremony during its Board of Trustees meeting to appoint a new deputy chief and promote a fire inspector to fire marshal.
Dan Turner was previously fire marshal in New Lenox and was promoted to deputy chief. He has been with the NLFPD for over 10 years, and in the fire service for 30. In his time with the NLFPD, he has managed the Life Safety Division, acted as fire prevention administrator, and fire code official.

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Left to right: Orland Fire Protection District Lieutenant Bill Leddin, NIFSAB Executive Director Tom Lia, newly appointed New Lenox Deputy Chief Dan Turner, New Lenox Fire Chief Steve Engledow, and Orland FPD Lieutenant Joe Leddin.

In addition to appointing a deputy chief, the NLFPD promoted James Brown to fire marshal. He has been with NLFPD for 25 years as a firefighter/paramedic. The last three years he has worked in the Life Safety Division as fire inspector.
Both Turner and Brown are residents of New Lenox and are active members of the community.

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Dan Turner (center) is sworn in as deputy chief for New Lenox Fire Protection District, pictured here with Fire Chief Steve Engledow (left) and Deputy Chief Adam Riegel (right).

“These promotions are both well-deserved,” stated NLFPD Fire Chief Steve Engledow. “These men have worked extremely hard to get to where they are, and we couldn’t be prouder of them for their efforts.”


 

“As a personal friend of Dan, I naturally am very glad for him. As a former fellow coworker at Orland Fire Protection District I knew he could succeed at anything he put his mind to,” says Tom Lia, executive director for the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. Dan has the passion and leadership to get things done in fire protection for the benefit of the people and his fellow firefighters.”

2023-10-05T11:33:30-05:00January 18th, 2017|0 Comments

Fire Sprinkler Saves Evanston High-Rise Residents, Yet Again, in 2016

Photo courtesy of Google Maps Street View.

The Mather in Evanston (photo courtesy of Google Maps Street View)

On December 20, a single fire sprinkler extinguished a fire after a stovetop burner was left on and ignited nearby boxes of food in a residence at The Mather, a 10-story senior living facility in Evanston. According to fire officials, no one was injured and over $150,000 in damage was prevented thanks to the quick action of the fire sprinkler.

The sprinkler save marks the second time this year that fire sprinklers prevented major fires at residential high-rises in Evanston. In March, a single fire sprinkler extinguished a kitchen fire in an apartment unit of the 11-story Housing Authority of Cook County’s Perlman Apartments high-rise. The building recently had been retrofitted with fire sprinklers in November 2015.

When the Mather was built in the late 2000s, former Evanston fire officials Michael Rons (plan reviewer), Tom Janetske (fire marshal) and Alan Berkowsky (fire chief) oversaw the fire safety system installations, including the fire sprinklers, which were installed by USA Fire Protection from Lake Forest.

“Both of the buildings where the fire sprinkler saves occurred this year have senior residents that are at high risk in the event of fires, according to the NFPA. Also, there is the added risk due to limited escape routes in high-rises,” says Evanston Fire Captain John Roche. “In each case, a single fire sprinkler averted a potentially serious incident.”

“By following national model codes that require fire sprinkler protection in high-rises, Evanston city officials are ensuring the safety of high-rise residents. That gives the city a huge life safety advantage over the city of Chicago, which unfortunately does not require all high-rises to be sprinklered,” says Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board.

 

2023-10-05T11:29:33-05:00December 21st, 2016|0 Comments

Fire Sprinklers Prevent Major Fire at Lawson House YMCA Residential High-Rise

On November 18, fire sprinklers controlled and extinguished a fire in a trash compactor room at the Lawson House YMCA at 30 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. The 24-story residential high-rise, which was built in 1934, is the largest single-room occupancy supportive housing facility in the Midwest with nearly 600 apartment units.

“Some of the residents in the low-income building are formerly homeless, so a fire that could potentially displace them again would be devastating. Fire sprinklers saved the day for the hundreds of people that live there,” says Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board.

Lia also notes that the fire sprinkler save is a good reminder to Chicago high-rise building owners that the city’s deadline to retrofit high-rises with fire sprinklers by January 1, 2017, is fast approaching.

2023-10-05T11:34:24-05:00November 18th, 2016|0 Comments

Fire Sprinkler System Saves Taxpayers Money in Wheaton Public Works Facility Fire

According to fire reports from November 14, the fire sprinkler system in the Wheaton Public Works facility held a fire in check that began in the bed of a dump truck in one of the maintenance garage bays. Firefighters arrived to find only minor smoldering material and smoke. As a direct result of the sprinkler’s quick response to the fire, no injuries were reported and the building was open again the next morning.

“Thanks to fire sprinklers, this is a great success story for the city of Wheaton,” says Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. “Had the city’s public works facility not been protected with fire sprinklers, the fire could have caused major damage. The public works department would have lost valuable resources and it would have created a burden on taxpayers, who would end up paying for the loss.”

“Wheaton city officials lead by example, protecting their own public buildings according to the national model codes. The model codes ensure that communities are able to protect their infrastructure, housing stock, citizens and employees, and first responders such as firefighters and police,” adds Lia.

Century Automatic Sprinkler, a licensed National Fire Sprinkler Association contractor from Gurnee, Illinois, installed the fire sprinkler system in the Wheaton Public Works facility.

2023-10-05T11:34:03-05:00November 15th, 2016|0 Comments
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