When problems arise, Mahomet residents know to call 911 and they know that the Cornbelt Fire Department will be on their way.
But, most people do not realize how those services became part of the Cornbelt.
But Steve Elkins does.
After 40 years as a volunteer with the fire department, Elkins has seen the department’s growth, built on the backs of men and women who were willing to give their time and resources to fill a need within the community.
As his wife encouraged him to get involved in the community in 1980, Elkins followed a few other men from his church to the Cornbelt.
At the time the department had four trucks, 30 volunteers and made 75 to 80 calls per year. In 2020, the department has 13 pieces of equipment, about 55 volunteers and runs about 1200 calls per year, helping with anything from extinguishing fires to checking gas leaks to providing emergency medical services and a diving team.
Elkins has also seen the district expand their facilities, growing from a facelift in 1985, adding three bay, to a complete remodel in 1990, adding another addition in 2002, building a new equipment building in 2016 and a training facility off Prairieview Road.
“It’s actually been kind of an incredible ride,” Elkins said.
Through every upgrade, Elkins said that he wanted to be a part of what the Cornbelt had to offer, taking as much training as he could.
“When we first started, we would go out and we would provide basic life support until an ambulance came from Champaign,” he said.
“That’s the way we operated until ‘96, and then we had a paramedic that could do much more with us. That has kept the time down and has saved lots of lives having the paramedic here.”
In 2019, the partnership between the Cornbelt Fire Protection District and Carle Arrow Ambulance expanded, providing Mahomet with its own ambulance.
Once Elkins was able to, about three years in, he became certified as an EMT, helping to get to people as quickly as possible. He is also a trained diver, served as Lieutenant on the department, spent seven or eight years as an Assistant Chief and was the interim Chief prior to John Koller stepping into the role. Elkins is also an engineer in the department.
“Any training that came up, I was anxious to get,” he said.
Training didn’t always look like it does today, though. Elkins appreciates the twice-a-month live instruction where firefighters can learn about what to do in different situations. The training facility off Prairieview is a highlight for the man who said much of the training 40 years ago came as they responded to each call.
“It was pretty much all on the job training,” he said. “We did train twice a month, but we didn’t have a facility like they’ve got now. We would burn a house occasionally if somebody wanted to get rid of it. And that was the extent of our live fire training.”
Elkins said that with the young, strong crew Cornbelt has now, it is time for him to hang up his gear and focus on some other aspects of his life. Officially, Elkins retired from the Cornbelt on Dec. 1, 2020.
“We’ve got an excellent crew out there,” he said. “The one thing that has been consistent the whole time I’ve been a Cornbelt is the quality of the people that they have up there.
“We’ve been fortunate. A lot of neighboring fire departments, smaller towns volunteer departments, have a really hard time keeping enough staff to run calls. And we’ve been blessed through the years of having good recruits coming up, people willing to give their time.”
Those good people are what Elkins believes constituents need when they reach out to Cornbelt.
“It can be challenging, but like I said it’s very rewarding,” he said. “Almost nobody we go to visit on a call is having a very good day, and sometimes it’s the worst day of their lives. Being able to go out and help them through is pretty rewarding.”
For Chief Koller, having Elkins around as he has learned the ropes of the department since he took over in 2015 has also been a rewarding experience.
“I would ask, why do we do this this way? And he would have that history, which was extremely helpful.”
Described as an all-around nice guy, Koller said that he hopes Elkins will continue to come around the station for coffee and a visit.
“Steve is the epitome of what we are,” Koller said.
“Not only did he do the call, he was very instrumental in a lot of things that went on around here: it could be building planning, fire prevention activities. apparatus activities, on apparatus committee, building apparatus. He really kind of did it all.
“He truly, truly cared, regardless of what the task was.
“He was always nice. It speaks a lot to his upbringing and who he is as a person.”
