BOURBONNAIS – Averaging nearly 11 calls per day over the past year, Bourbonnais Fire officials are asking residents for their support in the upcoming Consolidated Election this Tuesday.
“As a reminder to the residents of the Bourbonnais Fire Protection we are seeking support from the community as a whole to assist in improving services throughout the Fire District. To meet the needs of our community the Fire District has had to adapt to become an all-hazards response organization. As of March 29th, 2020, your Fire District is on pace to respond to nearly 4,000 calls for service.” Fire Chief James Keener said in statement this week.
Among challenges facing the Bourbonnais Fire District in the coming months include staffing, future growth, and capital expenditures.
The District has plans in place to build an additional station north of Larry Power and West of North Convent that will aid in the demand of services. The cost of the new station is projected to be in the area of $3 million dollars.
“While many opponents are expressing to their constituents to Vote No, it’s the same opponents that the District has tried to reach out and sit down to discuss the reasons why we are proposing the referendum increase. As of today’s date, our requests have gone unanswered and in fact some concerned citizens of the District have tried to respectfully engage the opponents only to be blocked from conversations, or better yet have their views and/or questions to be taken down from social media pages. How unfortunate our side of the story can’t be heard?” Keener asked.
Bourbonnais currently operates but one Fire Station in the community, serving around 20,000 local residents.
