Story posted Friday, November 6, 2009
Fire Chief Honored For 25 Years Of Service
By RICHARD MAYER Assistant Managing Editor
Mt. Prospect Fire Chief Mike Figolah was honored with a plaque at a recent village board meeting for 25 years of service to the community.
Figolah, 52, first joined the department in March 1984 as a firefighter/paramedic. Prior to coming to Mt. Prospect, he served as a part-time firefighter in West Dundee for 10 years.
Figolah said he chose to come to Mt. Prospect because the fire department had a "great reputation" and was also one of the leaders in public education, something he was involved in at West Dundee.
"I saw that Mt. Prospect was into teaching and educating about preventing fires, and that attracted me to Mt. Prospect," said Figolah.
Figolah was promoted to lieutenant in 1989. Four years later in 1992 he moved up to captain and in 1995 he was named deputy chief.
In 1997, Figolah became acting chief after former Fire Chief Ed Cavello retired. He was officially named to the top position in 1998, and has held that spot ever since.
Over the years, Figolah said there have been numerous changes in the department, but the one thing that has stayed constant is the number of people employed.
"The paramedic program has advanced tremendously," said Figolah. "The things today are absolutely amazing and make a difference in the field. Also, fire prevention, such as sprinkler systems, has done a much better job preventing fires than ever before."
Figolah said because sprinklers and smoke detectors help so much with preventing fires these days, the fire department struggles when it comes to budgets.
"Fires are down, but it's important to maintain budgets," said Figolah. "It's tough not to cut services that got us to this point."
He said the biggest obstacle he faces every year is to get staffing levels where they should be.
"We run with a two-person truck and that bothers me. It should be a three-person truck but budgets don't allow that," Figolah said.
Looking back on his 25 years in Mt. Prospect, Figolah is pleased he and other staff members were able to develop a school crisis plan for all 16 schools in town.
If there was ever an emergency such as tornado or terrorism, schools along with the fire department have a series of steps they must complete in a short period of time as part of the plan. This way, everyone is on the same page during a hectic and confusing time.
He also said over the past few years, the department has hired "good" people so they can be in position and ready to move up if anyone should leave.
"The entire department and administration is truly a team and I feel uncomfortable taking credit for any single program," emphasized Figolah. "It is a culmination of all people working hard and everyone enjoys working together."
In the months and years ahead, besides the opening of the new Fire Station 14 on Kensington Road and the creation of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Figolah said he is looking forward to things slowing down for himself and staff.
"It's been a sprint this year," said Figolah. "Our staff has been working real hard and I want to make sure they don't get burned out, including myself. This whole year had required to work a lot of hours so hopefully next year we can get back to the basics and update our strategic plan to look out past five years." Figolah said the original strategic plan was completed in 2000 and updated every year, but now it's time to "reinvent" it.
The fire chief also sees the number of ambulance runs increasing. He wants to manage his department's EMS (Emergency Management System) responsibilities, since "baby boomers" will be increasing in age over the next handful of years. He wants to ensure those services are available in an efficient manner.
"I have almost 26 years here and still feel I have a lot to contribute and want to get things done," said Figolah. "We need to make sure we have good people throughout the ranks who can step up and maintain sustainability in the department."
Figolah said during his time in Mt. Prospect, the one fire he classifies as the worst ever was on a Saturday morning 18 years ago when three children who were playing with matches died because they couldn't get out of their home since they were blocked in their bedroom.
"That shook up the entire department, but in 25 years, we have had only 10 people die in this community," commented Figolah.
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