In 1948 the Lion’s Club purchased an oxygen inhalator unit and donated it to the department. This was the first piece of first aid equipment to be owned by the department.

  In August of 1948, construction started on the station at 8 ˝ E. McDonald and was completed in April of 1949. At that time, the department consisted of 20 men on the roster and 1500 residents to protect in the fire district.  These men built the station themselves from a single-page plan.  Today, that same plan is framed and hangs in the current headquarters fire station on Camp McDonald Road.  A dance was held that same year and billed as “a gay affair.”

  Annual carnivals (held from 1946 to 1956 by the Firemen’s Association) made possible the original fire house and the partial cost of two fire trucks as well as the original radio equipment for six vehicles and 25 home monitors.  These two pumpers were a 1946 Dodge/Darley, old number 2, with a 300 gallon per minute pump and 500 gallon water tank, and a 1947 Ford/Darley pumper, old number 3, with a 750 gallon per minute pump and water tank.

  Chief Foor served as the president of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association for the year of 1954.

 For the year of 1956 the department responded to 30 calls.

  It appears, based on the volume of newspaper clippings, that local press coverage of the fire department was extensive.

 Early annual operating budgets of the fire district:

1950 – 1951    $4,010

1951 – 1952    $5,340

1960 – 1961    $20,751

1961 – 1962    $38,657

  A fire at the Rolling Green Country Club in 1961 had a reported loss of $50, 000.

  The roof siren was used to summon firefighters to a call until 1991.  Currently it is used only for tornado and other warning purposes.

  In April of 1962, after much discussion between the Trustees and members of the Firemen’s

  Association, the Trustees transferred all firefighting duties to Mt. Prospect Fire Department.  Based on newspaper articles, the firefighters went on “strike” and legal issues were brought before the court by the firefighters association.  In August of 1962, the department reopened with William Andrew as Chief, succeeding Fran Foor.  

  In 1969, Don Gould, Sr. was appointed Fire Chief when Bill Andrew retired and moved from the area.  Chief Gould, Sr. served until 1988.  In 1988 Donald R. Gould, Jr. was appointed Fire Chief and continues to serve as the current fire chief.

  During the mid 1960’s, the fire district purchased three new fire-fighting vehicles, a 1964 equipment truck (old 175), a 1966 Ford/Darley pumper (old 172) with a 750 gallon per minute pump and 1000 gallon tank, and a 1968 Ford/Darley tanker (old 174) with a 750 gallon per minute pump and 1500 gallon tank.  All three of these vehicles were retired in the early 1990s and sold as surplus property.

  Beginning in 1963 and continuing for a number of years (available records indicate 6 years), an annual dance was held by the firefighters association to raise funds for fire department operations.

  In 1971 the fire district held a referendum to issue $275,000 in bonds for the purchase of new equipment, specifically an engine, ambulance, and car for the Chief, and to construct an addition to the current fire station. The vote passed with 711 Yes votes to 185 No votes.  Construction occurred between 1975 and 1976.  The new addition provided room for the volunteers’ meetings and to hold additional vehicles. This bond was retired in the early 1980's.

  In 1973 the fire district began to provide ambulance service using its new 1973 Dodge van ambulance.

  In 1981 the fire district joined with Niles, North Main, Morton Grove, and Glenview as a partner in the Regional Emergency Dispatch (RED) Center.  Located at the Glenview Fire Department, RED Center provided two dispatchers on duty 24-hours a day improving dispatch at a nominal cost.  With the move to RED Center, the original radio numbers of 170 through 180 were retired and the station numbered Station 9.  All apparatus assigned to the station was now known by its vehicle type followed by the number 9, such as Engine 9.  Chief officers were assigned a three-digit “hundred” series with Prospect Heights’ chief known as 901.

  In early 1984 the district purchased a new combination squad pumper vehicle, which replaced both the 1964 equipment truck and a 1966 pumper. This combination vehicle would be able to do two jobs. It would be retired and sold in 2002 after 18 years.  Also in 1984 the fire district held a referendum to institute an ambulance service tax to pay for paramedics. With the passage by the voters of this rate increase, a new paramedic ambulance was purchased and equipped. 

  In July of 1985, the first paramedics were hired and began to service the community.  A new, 1985 “modular” ambulance was purchased giving paramedics more room to work that the old van-type ambulance.  Also, this ambulance had a Diesel motor to reduce heat build up which at the time was causing numerous ambulance fires around the United States. For the first year the station was staffed 24-hours each day with a single paramedic who would rely on a second person, an EMT or paramedic, who would answer the paged call and report to the station to form a crew.  Beginning in 1986 two paramedics would staff the station 24-hors a day and respond with either the ambulance or squad, depending on the call’s nature.

  In 1987 the fire district began its own Recruit Training Program that teaches new firefighters the State of Illinois Fire Fighter 2 curriculum as well as additional Prospect Heights-specific information.  As of 2004, 13 classes have been held and more than 88 firefighters have been trained. The 14^th class is preparing to begin in January of 2005 and will consist of more than 250 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction and practice. Of the 88 persons who completed the Recruit Training Program, 30 (34%) remain active.  Of the 22 persons who completed the Recruit Training Program in the last five year, 18 (82%) remain active.

  In 1991 voters of the fire district approved the issuing by the fire district of a $1,150,000 bond.  This bond built additional living space and remodeled the fire station and also paid for the fire district’s first aerial truck, a 1993 Pierce 100 foot aerial ladder platform.  The bond was paid off in ten years.

  In 1992 the Brighton Gardens Assisted Living Center opened on Euclid Avenue next to Rob Roy.  Through a first-ever impact fee, the Marriott Corporation paid for a new ambulance.

  1995 marked the provision of full fire and EMS service to the Palwaukee Area (formerly Wheeling Rural) fire district. On duty staffing rose from three firefighters to seven and a second, temporary station was opened at the City’s Public Works building on the eastside.  This temporary station would take on three versions and last for nearly seven years until the new station was opened on Wolf Road.

  In 1993 the fire district stopped contracting for personnel with the firefighters association and became the actual employer of the firefighters, a step deemed necessary based on the number of persons employed part-time and the task involved with performing the payroll accounting task twice each month.

  In 1997 the Prospect Heights Rural Fire Protection District and the Palwaukee Area Fire Protection District consolidated and merged into the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District.  On-duty station staffing using part-time firefighters would rise from seven to eight, four fire fighters at each station. The first east side fire station was established in a trailer behind public works. Firefighters operated out of a trailer for seven years until the purchase of our permanent home on Wolf Road. Of the four at each station, they would be divided as one lieutenant, one driver, and two paramedics staffing an ambulance and a pumper.

  In May of 2000, current Fire Chief Donald R. Gould, Jr. became the first full-time employee of the fire district.  The next year in September two Deputy Chiefs we hired as full-time employees of the fire district.

  Beginning in 2000, the fire district has received more than $900,000 in grants.  The first grants were in 2000 from the State of Illinois.  State Representative Krause awarded the district $375,000.00 for the purchase of a new pumper.  State Senator Sullivan awarded the district $55,000.00 for the purchase of an Incident Command Van.  In 2001 the Federal government began the Assistance to Firefighter Grant program and in 2002 the fire district was awarded a grant for $96,469.00 to purchase 68 sets of turn-out gear, 18 Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) devices and a Thermal Imaging Camera which would allow firefighters to “see” through smoke.  Again in 2004 the fire district was awarded a second grant for $377,553.00 to purchase all new cardiac monitor/defibrillators that also perform 12-lead EKG monitoring and automatic blood pressure measurement, an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) for each of the six fire vehicles, 36 new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), a heavy duty washing machine for decontaminating turn-out gear, fire sprinkler system and new emergency generator for the main fire station, and money to send every member of the department for a comprehensive medical exam to insure their health and safety to function as a firefighter.

  Between April of 2002 and April of 2003 a series of three referendums were held in order to gain voter approval to hire nine full time firefighters.  With the tax increases approved by voters and the additional taxes being collected by the end of 2004, the fire district prepares to hire its first full-time firefighter/paramedics in 2005.  These full time members will supplement the existing part time members who currently staff both fire stations.

  As of January 1, 2004 most unincorporated areas of Cook County (areas not part of the City of Prospect Heights) in the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District were annexed into the Village of Wheeling and removed from the fire district.  This annexation is estimated to reduce the tax base by more than 41 million dollars, just over ten percent of the total tax base, and result in approximately 200 fewer calls each year.