Manhattan Fire Protection District Chief Steve Malone reported the district received about 40 calls in 48 hours over Mother’s Day weekend, primarily due to severe weather, but there were three serious wrecks, including a triple pin-in and a structural fire all on Saturday, May 10.
“Once the storm came in, it started with wires down,” Malone explained, noting that he established a command center in the Times Square Plaza, with Battalion Chief Bruce Boyle commanding the west side and Deputy Chief Dave Piper handling the district’s east side.
Ultimately, storm damage was not significant, outside of mostly downed wires and tree branches.
The district already had handled 1,054 calls, but they expect next month’s report will jump significantly, accounting for the weather-related calls.
New Station Moving Slowly but Surely
Malone also reported the new fire station’s sewer and water connections should be completed within a week.
The fire district meets weekly with ICI Builds, the construction management firm overseeing the project, and will continue to do so throughout the project.
Construction bids are expected to be in by June 3, after which the construction management firm will review them. Malone noted there was a lot of interest in the project, and at least five contractors were out at the site to examine it.
Sandy soil was discovered during the construction of the water and sewer, which raised a slight concern there might not be enough clay in the soil to serve as a foundation for the new station. The township will check the soil to make sure there is enough clay and will report back to the fire district.
The easement is still in progress, although Malone reported that it’s done and just waiting on final signatures.
Groundbreaking is anticipated to be in July instead of June, just to account for some of the slight delays they’ve experienced thus far.
Draft Quarterly Operational Report Reviewed
Deputy Chief Dave Piper provided the board with a thorough, comprehensive sample of what a quarterly operational report could look like. The draft report detailed call volume, medical performance, and personnel changes from April 2025, which the quarterly report would mirror regarding the types of data and information provided, except, of course, with data from the past quarter.
The board reviewed the draft report with the April data and seemed pleased with the level of detail provided. They did not request any changes or additions to the quarterly report.
Piper reviewed data on incident locations and incident summaries, noting call performance and response times. For April 2025, the district still is sitting at a 90th percentile industry standard total response time of 11 minutes and 43 seconds. This industry standard is used because it most accurately reflects call time response nine-out-of-ten times versus an average.
As has been the trend, the district primarily responds to rescue and medical service incidents; the district saw 120 incidents of that type in April 2025, with 81 other calls being for hazardous conditions (no fire), service calls, false alarms, fires, and good intent calls.
“One of the notable things we noticed again from last year, which Jackie is working on, is about 25 percent of the people in cardiac arrest had CPR,” Piper said, underscoring the importance of CPR in improving an individual’s chances of survival and the district’s Fire and Life Safety Educator efforts on CPR community education.
Piper also noted the district had 50 incidents with multiple calls happening at the same time, including nine incidents with three calls happening simultaneously, indicating the district’s capabilities.
Outside of the operational report, Piper noted the new policy manual and SOPs are being reviewed and will be ready for board review and approval in the coming months.
Fire Prevention Efforts Headed in Positive Direction
Boyle reported that things in the fire prevention world were going well. Progress is being made on the Holiday Inn Express in Peotone, and he was pleased to report that St. Joseph School will be sprinkled and fire alarms upgraded throughout, thanks to Irish Fest and some other benefactors.
“Our job is to make sure we provide life safety in those buildings, and that’s what we did,” Boyle said, emphasizing the district’s commitment to ensuring they can fight a fire and save lives if a fire were to break out.
Additionally, Boyle reported the district is working on updating some of the doors, as there were some issues with the operators. The affected doors are being replaced. Fleet reliability is good.
Boyle also reported they are monitoring solar facility proposals, but there was nothing significant to relay to the board at this time.
Osborne Memorial in the Works
The district also is working on establishing a memorial for the late Trustee Bill Osborne, who died unexpectedly as a result of an automobile accident this past January. The district received donations in Osborne’s honor, which will fund the memorials.
Malone advised there will be a plaque honoring Osborne, as well as benches, and they would keep everyone updated to its progress.
Board Maintains Officers
New board member Mike Shivers will be sworn in at the June meeting; the board intended to swear him in at the May meeting, but a work emergency precluded his attendance. The board did vote to maintain its current board structure with Bill Moncrief as president, Bill Weber as secretary, and Larry Goodwin as treasurer.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.