'Petty' Infighting At Clarendon Hills Fire Station: Official

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – The Clarendon Hills Fire Department has a new policy largely keeping off-duty members out of the station.

Asked about the rules, Village Manager Zach Creer said Fire Chief Dave Godek sets policy and has determined that off-duty members were a distraction for the on-duty crew. The old arrangement was causing "more infighting than it was worth," Creer said.

In an email to Patch, Creer described the friction as "very, very petty in-house stuff like arguing over stealing food from the shift and taking up (La-Z-Boys) in the dayroom."

Creer also said the chief considered it "extremely distracting" when training classes were being held in the station and people were coming and going.

The village is issuing many policies for the fire department, as it did a few years ago for the police, Creer said.

"We are about 65% through implementation, with a ton of new policies," he said.

Under the new policy, off-duty members can only come in for legitimate operational purposes such as callbacks, training, meetings and extra work. Other types of visits must have the chief's permission.

Off-duty members must maintain a respectful presence, not use the dayroom unless authorized by those on duty, and not enter the rear living quarters.

Additionally, off-duty members cannot consume meals, snacks and beverages prepared or bought by on-duty crew unless invited to do so.

In an email to Patch, Peter Vexter, a former longtime department member, called the policy "petty, spiteful and vindictive." He said it goes against the culture of fire departments that are volunteer or paid on call.

Such a policy will "rip apart the final vestiges" of the fire department, which has served the village for nearly a century.

"It has been targeted and destroyed by the Village President, Board and Management - for what?" Vexter said.

Things have been changing at the fire department since the village last year entered a severance agreement for the resignation of longtime Chief Brian Leahy, who took the helm nearly four decades earlier.

The village is moving away from the paid-on-call model in favor of contracted paramedics.