The *Naperville Sun* recently published an article discussing ongoing conversations about the potential regional consolidation of fire protection services and how it could affect the City of Naperville.
A task force within DuPage County is currently evaluating whether consolidating firefighting services across the county could lead to more efficient operations. While some local fire stations might be at risk of closure, officials have indicated that such a move is unlikely to happen in Naperville anytime soon.
Mark Puknaitis, the Naperville Fire Chief, is part of a group that includes members from the DuPage Fire Chiefs Association, representatives from the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, and DuPage County Board member Gary Grasso (R-Burr Ridge). Their goal is to explore ways for fire departments to consolidate certain services in order to reduce costs.
Last week, Grasso introduced a preliminary proposal for a quadrant-based system, dividing the county into four sections. Naperville would fall within the southwest quadrant, along with a large portion of Lisle. This approach is part of a broader conversation that DuPage officials have been having for years about improving fire protection while making it more cost-effective.
Puknaitis noted that Naperville taxpayers are in a relatively strong position when it comes to fire protection costs. He shared a personal example, stating that he only pays $100 annually on his property tax bill for fire services.
He explained that Naperville benefits from multiple funding sources beyond property taxes, such as city sales tax revenue. In contrast, many other fire protection districts operate as separate taxing bodies, which limits their ability to generate income through property taxes alone. Puknaitis pointed to nearby districts like Lisle-Woodridge and Plainfield as examples of this model.
While no one on the task force has yet suggested merging taxing bodies, the quadrant plan is still in its early stages. Any form of service consolidation would likely require agreements between different districts.
Despite this, Puknaitis sees value in the quadrant system and in shared services between districts, especially when it comes to purchasing expensive equipment. He also believes that new arrangements could help improve response times by allowing neighboring fire departments to respond to calls if they are closer to the incident.
Naperville handles roughly 20% of DuPage County’s fire and EMS calls, and the department’s role has evolved over time. While structure fires used to dominate their workload, modern fire departments now provide a wide range of services.
On average, Naperville responds to 25 to 30 major structure fires each year, but handles 11,000 to 12,000 other calls—many related to emergency medical services, false alarms, or smaller incidents.
Puknaitis remains optimistic that the entire county can enhance fire protection while maintaining efficiency without closing any fire stations in Naperville.
Thanks, Dan.
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