Draft:Winfield Fire Protection District

The Winfield Fire Protection District (WFPD) is a special district serving 13 square miles and over 30,000 residents of the village of Winfield and surrounding unincorporated areas of Carol Stream, Wheaton, and West Chicago in western DuPage County, Illinois.

The WFPD is led by a Fire Chief, currently Steven Evans (since January 2020).

Five Trustees are elected to six year terms during municipal election cycles, and the current Trustees are George Kallas (President), Phil Saas (Secretary), Robb Hannen (Treasurer), Randall Simpson, and Lucas Allen.

The District’s Board of Fire Commissioners is responsible for handling the testing, hiring and disciplinary matters for the full-time firefighting staff. It is comprised of Commissioners Naresh Nair, Shawn Hacker, and Kyle Wolber.

24-hour staffing is provided by 3 shifts of 5 full-time crew members (1 Lieutenant and 4 Paramedic-Firefighters) assigned to one ambulance (2 crew members) and one fire engine (3 crew members). Each shift works 24 hours on-duty and then is off for 48 hours. In order to increase efficiency, the District utilizes the “Jump Company” model where the Engine company jumps to the second ambulance to respond to second ambulance requests while the first ambulance is on a call; and the ambulance crew jumps to the Pumper/Tender to provide water supply for fires in areas of the District which don’t have fire hydrants.

WFPD first responders answered 2,585 calls for assistance in 2024. In 1979 they answered 391 calls for assistance.

History

A fire at the Bluebird Confectionery in Winfield led a group of 15 local men to meet at John Karwoski's confectionery on January 12, 1929 to discuss organizing a local fire department. On January 14, 1929 the Winfield Fire Department was officially organized and the first meeting was held on February 4, 1929. Since they had no money all of the members agreed to purchase and place a bucket at their door (at their own expense) that could be used as a "bucket brigade" to fight any future fire that would occur until they could purchase firefighting equipment. Two hours after their meeting ended the church bell rang calling them to a fire at the Ellis home on Liberty St.

On March 6, 1934, a fire destroyed the Cantigny farm's main barn. Eleven horses and six vehicles were destroyed. Chicago Fire Department Engine 77 provided mutual aid assistance.

On January 31, 1938 a fire at the Winfield Sanitarium led to a total building loss, which led to a building rebuild.

Operations

WFPD is dispatched by the DuPage Public Safety Communications (Du-Comm) and answered 2,585 911 calls for assistance in 2024.

They are members of the West Suburban Fire-Rescue Alliance (WSFRA). The WSFRA consists of West Chicago, Wheaton, Winfield, Carol Stream, Bloomingdale, and Roselle fire departments.  The WSFRA is an inter-governmental cooperative that shares common dispatch procedures, Standard Operating Guidelines, shared annual training, and cooperative governance.  The structure fire response for the WSFRA includes 3 Engines, 3 Trucks, 3 Medics, 1 Heavy Rescue, and 5 Command Chiefs.

WFPD provides firefighting, rescue, and emergency medical services with a duty crew of 5 members divided into two companies who work 24 hour shifts.

WFPD operates a very busy and highly trained swiftwater rescue team in the Chicago area, often traveling more than 20 miles to provide mutual aid assistance.

Gallery

Apparatus	Stations
Engine 31
Tender 31
Medic 32	Station 32, currently used for storage.