By Dani Tietz
As land on the west side of Champaign develops, so does the need for expanded emergency services.
Cornbelt Fire Protection District Chief John Koller knows this. And so he, alongside the Cornbelt board, planned to move the volunteer-based fire district to one with three full-time shift captains.
“We took nearly two years in the process to get to the point where we could hire the full-time Shift Captains,” Koller said. “We wanted to take a very careful and thoughtful approach to the entire process. Much of the time was spent speaking to our volunteers, former members of the department, fire departments around the country, and community members.
“While we had a technical vision for what these positions would look like and what these individuals would do from day to day, one of the most important aspects was hiring the right people to fit our department and community.”
Quality candidates were not hard to find.
“The hard work of our volunteers to develop a high level of respect around the State and Midwest certainly showed when it came to the level of professionalism and experience we saw in our applicants,” Koller said.
Now, with three 24-hour shifts under their belts, Mitch Rolson, Justin Wesely and Gene Myers are putting decades of experience into the day-to-day operations of the Cornbelt Fire Department.
Rolson comes from the City of Urbana Fire Department and brings 20 years of volunteer experience with Cornbelt to the job. Myers is also a 22-year veterans of the City of Urbana Fire Department, serving as Lieutenant for the past six years. He volunteered for Cornbelt from 1993-2002. Wesley worked as a Registered Nurse for OSF Hospital prior to accepting the shift captain position and is a 20-year veteran volunteer with Cornbelt.
“What I see in them is not only a high level of care, compassion, and professionalism for the fire service but, most importantly, who they are as individuals,” Koller said. “They are servant leaders who have a people first mentality and a heart for serving our community and department first in mind. They represent the service and care that Cornbelt has worked hard to build since its inception in 1953.”
Since Koller took the helm at Cornbelt in 2015, the board has worked to provide their constituents with the best emergency services possible. Cornbelt began by employing three full-time EMTs, then stationing an ambulance on premises to help with a growing number of calls.
In Koller’s eight years with the district, Cornbelt’s population has grown from 12,000-13,000 residents in 96-square miles to 18,000 residents. Calls to Cornbelt have increased by 75 percent during that time. This growth has been a catalyst for the types of calls Cornbelt runs.
“In 2017, (a date requested by this publication) Cornbelt ran 1100 Calls for service and in 2022 (also a date requested by this publication) we had 1740 calls for service,” Koller reported. “The other change we have seen is in the type of calls we respond to. In 2017, Cornbelt was at 73% Emergency Medical Calls and 27% Fire Calls (Structure Fires, Fire Alarms, Vehicle Accidents, etc). In 2022, that percentage changed to 57% Emergency Medical Calls and 43% Fire Calls. So, the types of calls we run today compared to 2017 have changed dramatically as well.”
Cornbelt also provides the Water Rescue Team for all of Champaign County and have an automatic mutual aid agreement to aid other fire agencies in Champaign County.
Although the 35-member volunteer unit averages 600 hours a month in training to make response times and care as fast as possible, Koller knows having full-time shift captains will continue to make a difference for people in danger.
“One impact that is not as easily seen by our community is consistency,” Koller said. “In the world of emergency services, consistency is something that has a large impact on our performance, our responses, our training, and our safety. With three Shift Captains on duty, we will have three individuals that will offer that consistency or a consistent pattern in everything that we do.”
Captains will be responsible for a 24-hour shift followed by 48 hours off. Each shift on the engine is staffed by the Shift Captain and two part-time firefighters who work a twelve-hour shift from 7:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m.
“The first responsibility of the Shift Captains is to be the officer in charge of Engine 2252 and its personnel,” Koller said. “Each day, there are regular duties that include station maintenance, apparatus checks, equipment checks, training, public education activities, and building inspections that the Shift Captains will oversee and participate in.
“Each Shift Captain will have individual responsibilities as well. One will oversee our training program and work alongside our Deputy Chief to plan weekly, department-wide training. One oversees our fire gear and all radio systems, and the last oversees our Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus and loose fire equipment.”
The addition of shift captains comes at a cost, of course, but with financial planning of taxpayer dollars, Koller said taxpayers will not feel the burden.
In recent years, Cornbelt has refurbished Engine 2252, saving $500,000 in comparison to buying a brand new engine. They also sold apparatus that were low-use and saved money in areas like apparatus maintenance, the amount of loose equipment needed on each piece of apparatus, insurance, and fuel.
“We made several adjustments like these and were able to make room in our budget to hire full-time Shift Captains and Emergency Medical Technicians,” Koller said. “We were able to make these hires and stay within the current budget and added no additional cost to the taxpayers.”
As the leader of Cornbelt, Koller understands the importance of the 35 volunteers who take time away from family and friends in order to help within the community. The addition of shift captains also helps to ease the burden of the volunteers.
“The volunteers of Cornbelt are some of the most dedicated, caring individuals I have ever been around,” Koller said. “Their families also sacrifice so much to allow our volunteers to serve our community. While there is still plenty of work for the volunteers, the Board of Trustees and I felt an absolute obligation to them and their families to provide the Shift Captains and Emergency Medical Technicians to give them some relief and as much valuable family life as possible.”
