ROCKFORD — The sirens sound the same, but the fire engine serving Cherry Valley the past few days is dressed with a Rockford Fire Department logo.
Blame it on the curse of three. For the Cherry Valley Fire Protection District, the curse struck when its trio of fire engines all wound up in the shop.
"Everything broke at the same time, it seems," said Allen Geeser, battalion fire chief for the district.
So for $500 a day, it is Rockford to the rescue. Cherry Valley is leasing a reserve fire engine from its neighbor. The Rockford City Council Monday approved a short-term contract so the village can use a truck from the city's reserve fleet.
Geeser said one of the district's trucks was in the shop for scheduled service. Then the oil pump went on another, and the springs and rear axle went on the third.
"In order to ensure adequate protection for citizens of Cherry Valley, we graciously accepted an offer from the City of Rockford to loan us apparatus," said Geeser.
Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said the city has several engines it keeps in the event one of its engine breaks down. But they aren't typically leased to other departments.
"When I heard they didn't have any engines, I called up last Wednesday and said we have one I think you could use," Bergsten said. "We just wanted to make sure they had the same level of fire protection."
The fire engine breakdowns in Cherry Valley are likely to bring an equipment review for the person hired to replace Chief Craig Wilt, who retired May 24.
"One of the things we're going to be asking the new district chief to do is to put together an apparatus plan," said Gary Maitland, president of the fire protection district's board, who noted the district's fire engines were purchased in 1988, 1997 and 2008.
He said it may be time to start planning to replace the 28-year-old engine with a new model that could cost from $450,000 for a base model to about $600,000 for one with with all the bells and whistles.
"It's certainly something we'll have to look at," he said.
Maitland said he expects a Cherry Valley truck to be fixed and back into service sometime this week.
In other action Monday, aldermen:
— Approved an agreement with the Rockford Park District to lay out how the linear park on West State Street between Kent Creek and Sunset Avenue will be built and maintained.
— Extended the boundaries of its I-90 Enterprise zone so Mercyhealth can take advantage of tax incentives on the $485 million hospital and medical campus it is building near East Riverside Boulevard and Interstate 90.
— Approved a $59,400 contract with Knight Engineers & Architects of Bolingbrook for a survey of Spring Creek Road for a potential bike path from North Second Street to Springbrook Road.
- — Brian Leaf: 815-987-1343; [email protected]; @b_leaf
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