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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the
3 State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate Chief James D.
4 Spiegel on the occasion of his retirement after more than 28
5 years of placing himself in harms way for the safety of others;
6 and
 
7     WHEREAS, He was born in 1956 in Long Island, New York; he
8 graduated from Oceanside High School in 1974 and then from
9 Trinity College in Deerfield in 1978 with a BA in Sociology;
10 while attending Trinity College, he took part in St. Therese
11 Hospital's Emergency Medical Technician program and McHenry
12 Hospital's Paramedic program in 1976; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Upon graduation in May of 1978, he joined the
14 Countryside Fire Protection District as a
15 firefighter/paramedic; he became a full-time
16 firefighter/paramedic in July of 1979 and began attending the
17 University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale, completing his
18 BS in Fire Service Technology in 1982; and
 
19     WHEREAS, He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1984, Captain in
20 1986, Assistant Chief in 1988, Deputy Chief in 1992, and Chief
21 of the District in 2001; he became the second chief officer in
22 Illinois to be recognized as a Chief Fire Officer Designee
23 through the Center of Public Safety Excellence in 2002 and
24 attended the National Fire Academy's four year Chief Executive
25 Fire Officer program; and
 
26     WHEREAS, He led the Countryside Fire District through the
27 challenging fire accreditation program helping it become the
28 first accredited fire protection district in the USA in 1998;
29 he helped Countryside become the first ambulance provider in
30 Illinois to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of
31 Ambulance Service in 1999; he also helped Countryside become

 

 

HR1374 - 2 - LRB094 21042 MST 59368 r

1 one of only two agencies in the USA to hold both CFAI and CAAS
2 accreditations; in 2003, many of the programs that he led them
3 through were identified as best practices by the international
4 peer review team during re-accreditation; also during his time
5 as Chief, he helped expand and remodel fire stations, made the
6 fire trucks more efficient, enhanced the ambulance fleet,
7 improved the district's 911 service, and replaced the
8 district's aging aerial ladder; and
 
9     WHEREAS, During his time as Chief, he often worked in
10 conjunction with neighboring communities; working with other
11 fire chiefs, he helped develop Illinois' first fire based
12 wildland fire suppression team; in 2006, he was elected
13 President of the Lake County Fire Chiefs Association and also
14 Chairman of the Lake McHenry County Specialized Response Team;
15 he was the Mundelein Vernon Hills Rotary Club President in
16 2005/06, board member of the Central Lake County YMCA, and an
17 adjunct instructor with the College of Lake County instructing
18 fire service administrative courses; and
 
19     WHEREAS, He and his wife, Mary, are the proud parents of
20 Julia Rose, age 9, and Eileen Patricia, age 4; splitting time
21 between family activities and emergency responses has always
22 been a challenge and car seats were always a fixture in the
23 Chief's vehicle; therefore, be it
 
24     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
25 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
26 we congratulate Chief James D. Spiegel on the occasion of his
27 retirement after over 28 years of protecting the public; and be
28 it further
 
29     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
30 presented to him as an expression of our deep respect and
31 esteem and with best wishes for a relaxing retirement.