History

The history of the Darien-Woodridge Fire District is actually the story of two fire departments. These two departments, the Downers Grove Estates Fire District and the Belmont Fire District share a great deal of history and in 1988 became one department.

The Downers Grove Estates Fire District was organized in the late 1940's by a group of residents in the area known as the Downers Grove Estates. This area was located near Main Street and 63rd Street in unincorporated Downers Grove. They needed to establish their own fire protection as they were not covered by any department. The homeowners established the department and bought equipment. They actually stored the engine they had purchased under a tarp at one of the members homes.

Later, they built a small two bay station at 1133 Adelia. This station was used by the department until 1986, when it was sold. The North Station was used as a call back station for a number of years after the 75^th station was built as a number of the members of the department lived in the area around that station. However, the increasing size of the apparatus eventually limited the equipment that could be stored there. Eventually it became clear the station was too small and too old to be of use to the district.

In the early 1950's the department became a fire protection district. The area originally covered by the district covered from 63rd street to US Route 66, Cass Avenue to Woodward to the DuPage county line on the southwest. For many years this area consisted of housing developments such as the Old Estates, Bruce Lake, Brookeridge, and many farms.

In the early 1960's, it become obvious that there needed to be a more centrally located station. Therefore, the station on 75th Street was built and put into service around 1965. At the time the station was literally in the middle of nowhere. However, now it is obvious that the location was almost ideal. As the district began to lose territory to the village of Downers Grove, the areas north of 75th Street were covered by the Downers Grove Fire Department once they were in the village.

Also, in the early 1960’s it was discussed that the district should try to expand to cover the area west of Dunham Road north of 63^rd Street. At that time the Board of Trustees did not feel that the district was in any position to take additional responsibilities. It is a bit ironic that this area, which was also known as Downers Grove Gardens, would end up as the basis of the Belmont Fire District by 1969.

The 1970’s were a period of rapid growth in both the department and the surrounding areas. The suburban sprawl had reached out to this area and there was a housing boom in the whole DuPage area. Several large housing developments were built along with multi-family housing and some commercial construction. To keep up with the growth the department purchased a new frontline engine, mini-pumper and new ambulance. These vehicles were the first with the new white over lime green color scheme.

The mid 1970’s also saw the department’s initial purchase of the Hurst Jaws of Life rescue tool. For a number of years the department was called upon to go mutual aid with this tool as we were one of the first departments in the area to have the tool. In 1979, we purchased a pumper-tanker to replace an older tanker which had been placed out of service due to mechanical problems.

Also by the early 1970's the number of calls, especially ambulance calls caused the department to put full-time men on during the day. For a number of years there were 3 men on duty during the day. The paid-on-call personnel manned the station at night and on weekends. In late 1976, the district established an ambulance protection tax after a referendum was passed by the voters. The district pledged to provide paramedic service for the district residents. By early 1979, the paramedic program was ready to go. In March, 1979, the district placed its first paramedic ambulance in service.

It had become clear by the early 1980’s the 75^th Street station had become too small and it was expanded to include additional bay space and better living quarters for both the full-time and part-time staff. With the completion of the addition to the 75^th Street station, the North Station was taken out of service for callbacks.

By 1983, the full-time staff had gone over to a 24 on 48 off schedule. The department had 5 full-time men on 24 hours a day supplemented at night and weekends by paid on call personnel. After the fire in Hinsdale at the Illinois Bell Phone building in 1984, it was determined that we should begin to do our own dispatching from Station #1. Eventually, we went to a manned 24 hours-a-day dispatch center. This was forced by the adoption of the E-9-1-1 system. At that point it was impractical to use on-duty personnel to man the dispatch center at night. Eventually, we also began to serve the Belmont Fire District for dispatch services.

In 1987, the department went through two name changes. The first lasted less that two months. In order to differentiate this department from Downers Grove, we dropped the Downers Grove from our name. The Estates Fire Protection District was born. However, it become clear that a new name reflecting the area of coverage would be better. Therefore, the name was changed to the Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District.

The history of the Belmont Fire District is a bit shorter but tended to parallel that of Downers Grove Estates. The people who lived in the unincorporated areas west of Dunham Road north of 63^rd Street were being provided fire protection by the Downers Grove Fire Department on a pay as needed basis. In 1965, the residents were told this service would no longer be provided. The residents then formed the Belmont Fire District and contracted to Downers Grove for fire protection. In 1968, the residents were told by the Village of Downers Grove, that effective January 1, 1969 there would be no fire protection unless the area annexed into the Village. The residents decided instead to start their own department.

The property at 59^th and Belmont was to be the location of the station. The property was purchased and station planned and the members went to the Downers Grove Estates Fire District for training. The department initially started with an old Oshkosh engine from Oak Lawn, a brush fire vehicle and ordered a new engine.

During the 1970’s the department purchased a used ambulance and began to provide EMS at the BLS level. The department then purchased a new ambulance and placed it in service. By 1979 it was determined the station needed to be expanded and a referendum was passed and an additional was built on the station.

In the 1980’s the district implemented a sleep in program to man the station at night. This was expanded to put day–time personnel in the station. The equipment was upgraded and the department was heavily involved in public education. By 1987, the department had contracted with Darien-Woodridge for dispatching services. However, due to limitations on funds it was impossible for the Belmont Fire District to upgrade to ALS services.

In 1987, the Trustees of both Darien-Woodridge and Belmont entered into discussions about merging the two departments into one and the question was taken to the voters in 1988. The voters agreed and effective November 1988, the two departments became one under the name of Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District.

In 1989, Station #3 was constructed and was placed in service in January of 1990. This station was placed to cover the south end of the district area and to improve the response times especially to the southeast corner of the District. This station was manned with an engine and an ambulance.

During the 1990’s the continuing growth of the population and the increased requests for service caused the district to increase the manning both full-time and contract. The district had purchased its first ladder truck in late 1992 and it was placed in service at Station #1. The district then attained an ISO rating of 3 district-wide, a long-term goal. The call volume continued to increase throughout the 1990’s. The district was called upon to provide a larger number of services to the residents of the expanded district. A second large building boom also occurred in the 1990’s with the construction of 100’s of additional homes, shopping centers and commercial property.

It became clear that the station at 75^th Street was due for either a major renovation or replacement. It was decided that a new headquarters station would be built. The new station was completed in the late summer of 1998 and was dedicated in October of that year. The facility is a large modern facility designed to serve the people of the district for many years to come.

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