HR1374 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1374 LRB094 21042 MST 59368 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate Chief James D. Spiegel on the occasion of his retirement after more than 28 years of placing himself in harms way for the safety of others; and

WHEREAS, He was born in 1956 in Long Island, New York; he graduated from Oceanside High School in 1974 and then from Trinity College in Deerfield in 1978 with a BA in Sociology; while attending Trinity College, he took part in St. Therese Hospital's Emergency Medical Technician program and McHenry Hospital's Paramedic program in 1976; and

WHEREAS, Upon graduation in May of 1978, he joined the Countryside Fire Protection District as a firefighter/paramedic; he became a full-time firefighter/paramedic in July of 1979 and began attending the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale, completing his BS in Fire Service Technology in 1982; and

WHEREAS, He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1984, Captain in 1986, Assistant Chief in 1988, Deputy Chief in 1992, and Chief of the District in 2001; he became the second chief officer in Illinois to be recognized as a Chief Fire Officer Designee through the Center of Public Safety Excellence in 2002 and attended the National Fire Academy's four year Chief Executive Fire Officer program; and

WHEREAS, He led the Countryside Fire District through the challenging fire accreditation program helping it become the first accredited fire protection district in the USA in 1998; he helped Countryside become the first ambulance provider in Illinois to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Service in 1999; he also helped Countryside become one of only two agencies in the USA to hold both CFAI and CAAS accreditations; in 2003, many of the programs that he led them through were identified as best practices by the international peer review team during re-accreditation; also during his time as Chief, he helped expand and remodel fire stations, made the fire trucks more efficient, enhanced the ambulance fleet, improved the district's 911 service, and replaced the district's aging aerial ladder; and

WHEREAS, During his time as Chief, he often worked in conjunction with neighboring communities; working with other fire chiefs, he helped develop Illinois' first fire based wildland fire suppression team; in 2006, he was elected President of the Lake County Fire Chiefs Association and also Chairman of the Lake McHenry County Specialized Response Team; he was the Mundelein Vernon Hills Rotary Club President in 2005/06, board member of the Central Lake County YMCA, and an adjunct instructor with the College of Lake County instructing fire service administrative courses; and

WHEREAS, He and his wife, Mary, are the proud parents of Julia Rose, age 9, and Eileen Patricia, age 4; splitting time between family activities and emergency responses has always been a challenge and car seats were always a fixture in the Chief's vehicle; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Chief James D. Spiegel on the occasion of his retirement after over 28 years of protecting the public; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to him as an expression of our deep respect and esteem and with best wishes for a relaxing retirement.