The Naperville Sun recently published an article discussing ongoing conversations about the potential regional consolidation of fire protection services and how it might affect the City of Naperville.
A task force in DuPage County is currently examining the possibility of merging firefighting services across the county, which has sparked concerns about local fire stations being closed to improve efficiency. However, at this stage, it seems unlikely that Naperville will see any such changes.
Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis is part of a group that includes members of the DuPage Fire Chiefs Association, two representatives from the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, and DuPage County Board member Gary Grasso (R-Burr Ridge). Their goal is to explore ways for fire departments to consolidate services in order to reduce costs.
Last week, Grasso introduced a preliminary plan involving a quadrant system, dividing the county into four regions. Naperville would be located in the southwest quadrant, along with a large portion of Lisle.
This initiative is part of a long-standing discussion among DuPage officials about improving fire protection while making it more cost-effective. Puknaitis noted that Naperville’s taxpayers are in a relatively good position when it comes to fire service costs. He even shared a personal example, mentioning that he only pays $100 annually on his property tax bill for fire protection.
According to Puknaitis, the city benefits from having multiple revenue sources for fire services, including sales tax, which helps reduce the burden on property taxes. In contrast, many other fire protection districts operate as separate taxing bodies, relying almost entirely on property taxes for funding. He specifically mentioned the Lisle-Woodridge and Plainfield fire prevention districts as examples.
Although no one on the task force has yet proposed consolidating taxing authorities, the quadrant idea is still in its early stages. Any form of service consolidation would likely require agreements between different districts.
Puknaitis sees value in the quadrant approach and in shared services between districts—such as joint equipment purchases, which can be a major financial burden for smaller fire departments. He also believes that new arrangements could help reduce response times by allowing neighboring districts to assist if they’re closer to the scene of an emergency.
Naperville handles approximately 20% of all fire and EMS calls in DuPage County, and the nature of these calls has evolved over time. While traditional structure fires used to dominate a department’s workload, modern fire services have become much more diverse, handling everything from medical emergencies to false alarms and small incidents.
In fact, Naperville averages between 25 and 30 significant structure fire calls per year, but handles around 11,000 to 12,000 other types of calls annually—including emergency medical services, activated fire alarms, and minor fires.
Despite the discussions, Puknaitis remains confident that the entire county can enhance fire protection and make it more efficient without closing any fire stations in Naperville.
Thanks, Dan
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