FIRE DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATION

In November 2004, the City Council appointed Fire Chief Joseph C. Holomy (e-mail). Chief Holomy began his career in the fire service on a volunteer department in 1976 in northern Illinois and worked his way up through the ranks becoming a chief officer in 1994. In February 2004, Chief Holomy was conferred as a Chief Fire Officer by the Commission on Fire Accreditation and Chief Officer Designation being one of only 506 Chiefs worldwide to have this designation. He holds numerous Illinois State Certifications in the fire service, including Fire Officer III, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Governors State University. He has instructed at fire academies for new recruits as well as courses and seminars in fire department management, tactics, and incident command. He is actively involved in various fire service organizations for the improvement and advancement within the fire service. He is a past President of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and is the current President of MABAS Division 54. Chief Holomy is also a committee member on the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, Lake Land College Fire Program Advisory Board, the City of Effingham Emergency Planning Group and the City of Effingham Electrical Commission. He also is an Instructor at Lake Land College for the Fire Science Program, a member of Sunrise Rotary, Effingham County 100 Club, and the Greater Effingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In May of 2009, Chief Holomy received the 2009 Illinois Fire Chief of the Year award presented by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association at its annual symposium in Peoria, Ill. Chief Holomy was honored with this prestigious award due to his fire service accomplishments on the local, state and national level in areas including public education and life safety advancement, innovative and entrepreneurial efforts and accomplishments, education and scholastic achievements, significant public service performance and contributions to Illinois Fire Service.

In addition to the Fire Chief, the administrative staff of the fire department consists of the Commissioner of Health & Safety, Merv Gillenwater (e-mail), and Executive Secretary Joan Buzzard (e-mail). The administrative staff works normal business hours – Monday thru Friday 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The senior officers are assigned to one of three shifts. Each shift works 24 hours on duty followed by 48 hours off duty. This arrangement provides five full-time personnel on each shift with the minimum staffing level for on duty personnel being four. Each shift has a Captain who serves as the Shift Commander and works out of Station #1; 1st Shift (Black Shift) Captain Jim Charters (e-mail), 2nd Shift (Red Shift) Captain Robert Hoffman (e-mail), and 3rd Shift (Gold Shift) Captain Don Blair (e-mail). A Lieutenant on each shift serves as the Company Officer at Station #3.

Chiefs of the Department

The fire department has a deep tradition of providing emergency services to the City, each Chief having played an important role in what the Effingham Fire Department is today. If Chief Brown (1867-1870) were to walk into Station #1 today and happen to overhear today’s Fire Chief discussing ADA, affirmative action, discrimination, harassment, lightweight construction, hazardous materials, technical rescue, OSHA, NFPA, terrorism, etc., he might be tempted to ask, “Do they still take the nozzle and get to the seat of the fire?” The answer is “yes, we still focus on getting the wet stuff on the red stuff” but it has become much more technical and difficult then in the past. The following is a list of the Chiefs who have led the Effingham Fire Department since 1867.