By Olivia Stevens
Daily Southtown
ORLAND PARK, Ill. — The Orland Professional Firefighters Local 2754 union continues to raise concerns about the fire district’s ability to respond to an increasing number of calls since an ambulance went offline in June, despite the new fire chief’s assertions the additional ambulance is not needed.
Union President Dan Fagan, an Orland Park firefighter, said the district is finding it’s down to one or no ambulances, requiring them to seek backup from outside communities.
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The union wrote in a social media post Friday that within one day, the Orland Fire Protection District requested out-of-town ambulances to assist them seven times. Calls included assisting a woman who was critically injured after being struck by a car on 159th Street Thursday night.
“That doesn’t mean that’s the only time that the town is at risk,” Fagan said. “When we’re down to one ambulance, that means we have one ambulance for the next major call that comes in, with 175,000 people in town.”
Fagan said that estimate includes people in the area during the day, such as for work. The Orland Fire Protection District provides service for all or parts of Orland Park, Orland Hills and unincorporated Orland Township.
Fagan said he has warned the board for about five years that projected area growth requires increased services. He said the nearly 230,000-square-foot Amazon retail center planned for the already busy 159th Street and LaGrange Road intersection would boost the number of calls the fire district receives.
“Every time a new home goes up, a new medical facility goes up, our call volume goes up,” Fagan said. “That means there’s less time in the day that an ambulance is available to the residents who are paying taxes.”
Kevin Doyle, who started as fire chief/administrator in October after serving as Homer Township Fire Protection District’s chief, said these concerns are exaggerated, based on his interpretation of call data. He said during the 24-hour period mentioned in the union’s Facebook post, the Orland Fire Protection District requested out-of-town ambulances to back them up six times, not seven, and only one of those ambulances was sent on a call.
He explained the high number of backup ambulances requested resulted from firefighters receiving physical examinations, which are all coordinated within a 10-day period.
“While there is an ambulance with two paramedics at the primary care getting their physical done, we no longer have five ambulances available — we have four,” Doyle said.
He also said the Orland Fire Protection District, as common practice, calls for outside assistance more quickly than many other fire districts.
The fire district board voted in July to return a district ambulance to operation for 12 hours daily, a month after removing it from the fire district’s circulation, but the Illinois Department of Public Health denied its waiver request. Fagan said the board could have brought back the ambulance for 24-hour daily service, but several board members refused.
Board member Tina Zekich asked to discuss the state agency’s denial during a September board meeting, expressing concern for the community. Board President Beth Damas Kaspar said she wanted to wait until after the new fire chief’s start date Oct. 20 to discuss the matter, saying the ambulance issue was not on the agenda.
Fagan said the union met with Doyle once after he was appointed and brought up the ambulance issue, Fagan said.
“He gave us his thoughts and reasons why we don’t need it, and he has not addressed it since,” Fagan said.
He said the 2026 budget approved by the board last month did not include funding for an extra ambulance.
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