A Brief History of the Roberts Park Fire Protection District

Serving with pride, honoring tradition, dedicated to excellence

The Roberts Park Fire Protection District informally got its start in 1938 by a group of neighborhood citizens.  They eventually raised enough money through various events to purchase the department’s first fire engine.  Known as the “Prairie Wagon”, the 1930s vintage Ford truck was equipped, fueled, and maintained solely through donations.  Since there was no fire station, the truck was stored under a makeshift lean-to on a firefighter’s home. 

    In 1946 the Roberts Park Fire Department was granted a charter by the State of Illinois.  This marked the official start of the organization.  At that time the fire district encompassed a large portion of what was to be the City of Hickory Hills, the Village of Justice, and the Village of Bridgeview.  Citizens of the area donated land and construction materials and the firefighters constructed a centrally located fire station at 8616 S. 79^th Court.  This served the department until the present station was built in 1973. In the early days, when someone reported a fire by telephone, the Oak Lawn operator would activate the roof siren at the fire station and then call the live-in owner of a small neighborhood grocery store adjacent to the station. The shopkeeper would take down the address, meet the volunteer firemen as they responded from home and give them the location where they were needed.

    When tax revenues became available to Roberts Park, the district purchased a new 1949 Mack pumper.  This vehicle remained in service until 1991 when it was sold to a collector.  In 1956 radio communications were installed in all department vehicles and the area's first ambulance was purchased.  Further communication enhancements were made to allow the all-volunteer staff to be notified of calls by home alert receivers and rooftop siren.  The rooftop siren has since be relegated to emergency weather notification use in conjunction with the City of Hickory Hills and Village of Justice warning sirens.

    In 1974 the Village of Bridgeview deannexed from the Roberts Park Fire Protection District.  The department lost one-third of its tax base and revenue as a result.  In response to a growing need for revenue, the formation of an ambulance district was proposed and approved by voters. Unlike municipal fire departments that receive revenue from sales tax, a fire protection district’s main source of income is property tax. 

    In 1970 Robert Rasch was appointed as the first full-time fire chief. In May of 1971 the Board of Trustees appointed the first Board of Fire Commissioners to conduct the hiring of full-time personnel.  Shortly thereafter, full-time  firefighter/paramedics were added to supplement the volunteer staff.  The full-time staff slowly increased to four members per shift and volunteer members became paid-on-call due to the increasing call volume.  In 1990, after the retirement of Chief Rasch, Joseph Fijalkowski became the second full-time fire chief. Under Fijalkowski, full-time staffing rose to five members per shift and part-time members were introduced. Also during Chief Fijalkowski’s tenure, an addition was constructed on the firehouse to help alleviate the cramped conditions of a growing department.  Not only were calls increasing, the department increased its training, involvement in public education, and became part of the area’s Hazardous Materials Team.  The addition to the firehouse provided classrooms, offices, vehicle bays, and badly needed storage areas.  In 2001, after 35 years of service, Chief Fijalkowski retired and William Doherty was promoted to Chief. Chief Doherty retired in 2008 after 30+ years in the fire service, succeeded by Frederick Vollinger. Like their predecessors, both Chief Doherty and Chief Vollinger were faced with meeting the increasing needs of the community. The department has thus evolved to be comprised of full-time and part-time personnel.  To better utilize the personnel, full-time and part-time personnel combine to staff each of its two stations with 9 members on a 24-hour basis. Chief Vollinger left the organization in 2011, and was succeeded by Jeff Ketchen, the current Fire Chief.

    When the Fire District first began, the City of Hickory Hills had an Insurance Services Organization (ISO) rating of 9, with 1 being the best.  Over the years with improvements made by the Fire District in personnel, training, apparatus, in conjunction with the City of Hickory Hills and the Village of Justice improving municipal water systems; the ISO rating improved to a 3 in both municipalities that lie within the Roberts Park Fire Protection District boundaries. 

    Roberts Park is involved in response agreements with neighboring fire departments to enhance response capabilities on a daily basis. This mutual aid system, called MABAS, stretches from southern Wisconsin to St. Louis suburbs and includes fire, rescue, emergency medical services, hazardous materials response, water rescue, and fire investigation.  The agreement provides response resources in a timely manner anywhere in this region. 

    In 2005, Roberts Park entered into a contractual agreement to provide fire protection and emergency medical services to the portion of the Village of Justice which was not within our boundaries. That agreement was in place until 2017 when voters approved annexation of that portion into the District proper.    

    Officially, the Roberts Park Fire Protection District is 75 years old. In that time, we have grown from an all-volunteer staff with a  prairie wagon, to an 80 member combination full-time/part-time staff with a fleet of 12 state-of-the-art vehicles. The growth and success of the District is a product of the dedication of past and present members and continued community and taxpayer support.