FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
This section will hopefully answer some of the questions you may have about the Stillman Fire Protection District.
1) How large is the Stillman Fire Protection District?
A. The fire district ranges from approximately Marrill Rd on the West, to Moulton Rd on the East, South Bend Rd on the North to Lindenwood Rd on the South.
2) What are the responsibilities of the Stillman Fire Protection District?
A. This can probably be best answered by our mission statement:
The Stillman Fire Protection District’s mission is to provide emergency and non-emergency services to the district and surrounding area when possible that prevents the loss of and protects lives and property to the best of our ability with volunteered time, training, and available resources along with continuous improvement in equipment, training, safety, and personnel development.
We handle all sorts of emergencies, from getting cats out of trees to fighting fires, responding to motor vehicle accidents and providing a paramedic level ambulance service.
3) How can I become a district firefighter?
A. First you must contact the chief and request an application. The
application will be reviewed by the district officers and a comprehensive
background check will be performed. Applicants who make it past this stage
will be called in for an interview with the district officers and successful
candidates will be placed in a recruit class, which usually starts in the
fall of each year.
4) What is involved in the recruit class?
A. These future Firefighter/EMT’s are put through a one year course in basic firefighting principles and basic first aid. After their yearlong probation, they are promoted to Firefighter.
5) What other training is required of firefighters?
A. A firefighter must become a State certified Emergency Medical Technician, as well as obtaining the Illinois Office of the State Fire Marshall Basic Fireifghter certification, within 3 years of hire. All training and training expenses are supplied by the District. Other training opportunities, such as advanced Paramedic training and OSFM Advanced Firefighter are optional but encouraged.
6) How many members do you have?
A. Stillman Fire Protection District is currently staffed by 1 Chief, 2 Deputy Chiefs, 2 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, 26 Firefighters, and 3 EMS only personal. Out of our 38 total personal 19 are Emergency Medical Technicians and 8 are Paramedics
7) Do you have any female firefighters?
A. Yes. SFPD currently staffs 5 female personnel.
8.) How is the Stillman Fire Protection District funded?
A. We are a governmental body funded by property taxes. In addition to taxes, our ambulance service is partially funded by user fees.
9) How are you dispatched to emergencies?
A. The Ogle County 911 center receives the initial call from the public over the enhanced 911 center’s telephone lines. (Enhanced 911 means that the caller’s name, address and telephone number show up on a screen at the 911 center). After determining the nature of the emergency, the 911 dispatcher selects the proper agency to respond and sends a radio page to that agency. Each agency has a different set of “tones” that will set off only that agencies pagers. The pagers begin beeping, followed by a message describing the emergency type and location.
10) I have a scanner and would like to listen to your calls. What frequencies do you use.
A. Our dispatch frequency is 154.340 MHz. Our Fireground Red channel is 154.385 MHz. We often switch to this frequency when we arrive on the scene and want to avoid tying up the radio traffic on the dispatch frequency. For large fires we will usually switch to the MABAS (Mutual Aid box Alarm System) frequency which is 154.265 MHz. This is done for two reasons; first, it gets all incoming fire equipment on the same frequency and second, it avoids congestion on our dispatch frequency.
11) When I call for an ambulance, why does more than one truck show up?
A. When you request an ambulance, we strive to provide the best and fastest service possible. The ambulance will respond as soon as a crew is at the station. This can be with as little as 2 personnel. A second apparatus will respond to bring additional help to the scene, to better provide service for our community.
12) What hospitals will Stillman Fire Ambulance transport to?
A. SFPD Ambulances will transport to Swedish American Hospital, Rockford Memorial Hospital, OSF St Anthony Medical Center, and Rochelle Community Hospital. Normally we will honor a Patients request as to which hospital they would like to be transported to, however if an injury or illness is very serious, we may be forced to transport to the closest hospital, Swedish American, or to the closest trauma center, Rockford Memorial. Stillman Fire also may call a helicopter to transport very serious Patients.
13) What happens if Stillman Ambulance is on a call, and a second call is recieved?
A. Stillman Fire has 2 Paramedic level ambulances. However, if both ambulances are unavailable, SFPD has agreements in place with neighboring departments to respond. Our “first call” is Byron Fire, located approximately 7 miles away. If our ambulances are unavailable, another fire apparatus will respond to begin care until the ambulance arrives.
14) What happens if a fire is too big for Stillman Fire to handle?
A. Stillman Fire is a member of MABAS Division 18 and MABAS Division 8. MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. This system was designed and set up throughout Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin and is now quickly being adopted throughout the mid-west because of it’s success. This system consists of different areas which are broken up into different divisions. Each department must submit cards to their division and each fire department. These cards contain different levels of alarms starting with a still alarm then a box alarm increasing to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and finally 5th. Each level has pre assigned types of vehicles from other fire departments which would respond if any of the levels of box alarms are activated. There are different types of box cards for structure fires, Hazardous Materials, Ambulances, Water and ice rescue, Brush Fires, and Technical Rescue (Structural Collapse, Trench Rescue, Confined Space Rescue & High Angle Rescue). If an incident exceeds a fifth alarm, command has the option to tap into resources in other divisions, this is called an interdivisional box. With one call, Stillman Fire Incident Command has access to a nearly unlimited amount of resources.
15) I live in Davis Junction (or New Milford, or anywhere else…), Why did a Stillman Fire Ambulance respond when I called for an ambulance?
A. Stillman Fire staffs 2 Paramedic level ambulances. Some neighboring communities staff EMT, or Basic, level ambulances. When a more serious call comes into one of those departments, the need for a Paramedic level response may arise. Stillman Fire works closely with other departments to provide Paramedic level responses when requested. Stillman Fire may also be called when a department’s ambulance is already out on another call.
Some departments do not provide ambulance service of their own, instead providing first responder response on a fire truck. These departments have agreements in place for an ambulance to respond to their calls. Stillman Fire is proud to work with these departments to provide service when their primary ambulance is not available.
