Bourbonnais Fire Protection District
Overview
The Bourbonnais Fire Protection district is a combination fire department, serving the village and unincorporated portions of the township of Bourbonnais, Illinois. The department protects a 36 square mile area which includes over 36,000 patrons. The district covers rural areas, providing for such calls as high-speed country road accidents, farm and machinery equipment rescue, and water and cliff rescues from the nearby Kankakee River State Park and the Indian Caves on the Perry Farm. The district also includes over seven miles of railroad for passenger and freight trains, as well as approximately seven miles of interstate traffic, with one interchange. About half of the residents live within the village limits of Bourbonnais.
Quick Facts
Department Leadership:
Chief Jim Keener
Battalion Chief's
Brian McCrary
Eric Mifflin
Ken Gebhardt
Personnel:
12 Full-Time Career Members
6 Full-Time Contract Members
18 Paid-on-Call Members
14 Part-Time Members
Population Served:
36,000
Coverage Area:
36 Square Miles
Additional Information
The Bourbonnais Rural fire department was formed in 1948 to respond to fire emergencies in the local farming community. The department grew in size to 3 stations over the years, providing for the safety of the area for over 60 years. In 1986, the rural department and the village combined to form what is today, the Bourbonnais Fire Protection District.
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The district answered 4,282 emergency calls in 2019 - the most in the history of the department. The department consists of 12 full-time district career members, 6 full-time contractual firefighter/paramedics, 18 paid-on-call members, and 14 part-time members. The fire station is staffed 24 hours a day. In general, there are 7 firefighters on duty at the station 24 hours a day. Four full-time members are also on staff at the station Monday through Friday during regular office hours. Each firefighter is put through a semester long fire academy, at the conclusion of which a test for Basic Firefighter certification is given. Each member must complete a semester long course for EMT-B certification, following which a 3 semester Paramedic course may be taken. Full-time members must be paramedics.
The district consists of one fire station which houses 14 vehicles including 3 ambulances, 3 engines, 1 ladder truck, 1 brush truck, 3 command vehicles, a boat, and a tactical rescue semi-trailer. Each vehicle is equipped with the industry standard in firefighting tools, all of which are regularly tested and maintained. The district is managed to respond to nearly any type of incident in the area, and also provide an adequate and efficient response to similar emergencies in neighboring districts. To better fulfill this role, Bourbonnais Fire Protection District is a member of the MABAS 7 area wide response unit. In the event of a mass-response incident, MABAS effectively manages when, where, and which units to send.
