North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department Battles House Fire

Posted on July 12, 2019
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI

Firefighters from the North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department battled a house fire in the 5,000 South block of Holiday Street on Thursday night.

Officials say that the home was nearly totally engulfed when firefighters arrived at the scene around 9:30 p.m.  Entry was made at the front of the house while a search team made entry on the side of the house.  The fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured.

The occupants of the home were not there when officials arrived at the scene.

The cause and origin of the fire will be determined by the Indiana State Fire Marshal.

Firefighters were on the scene for about an hour. There were 19 volunteers who responded.  About 6,300 gallons of water was used.

In a post on social media, firefighters stressed the importance of keeping doors closed while sleeping or not at home when a fire erupts as it can save lives.  The difference can be seen in the pictures posted with this story.

The North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Starke County EMS.

Photos provided by the North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department.

Ongoing Radio Issues in North Judson Set for Repairs

Posted on July 10, 2019
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI

The North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department has experienced issues with their radio communications and repairs to the equipment are anticipated soon.

Matthew Noonan from the Starke County Communications Committee explained to the Starke County Commissioners last week that the problem was found at the site and wasn’t an issue with the radios as initially thought.  He said through testing he found that voter was disenabled and the transmitter wasn’t working.  Officials from J&K Communications were contacted and they were able to gain remote access and enable everything.  It was working, but further testing found it to be inoperable.

Noonan explained that during the tower maintenance project in North Judson, where the fire department’s radio equipment is placed, the cables were found to be damaged.  The equipment was not moved from the site during the project, because of cost.

The commissioners did approve a quote for $2,005 to repair the cables which will be presented as an additional appropriation for the council to approve.

In addition, the air conditioning unit was also found not to be working to help cool the equipment to a preferable operation temperature.  Arctic Air made necessary repairs for just over $100 as an emergency expense.

On top of that, the service contract with J&K Communications, the only company that Noonan said can service the radios that all the fire departments use, expired June 30.  Noonan presented a one-year service agreement contract for the commissioners to review in the amount of $42,000.  The contract will be discussed by the Starke County Council along with the commissioners on Monday, July 15.

NJ Town Council Approves Financial Commitment for Fire Station Sign Project

Posted on February 13, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI

The North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department has plans to revamp the fire station’s look with a sign replacement project in the works.

Fire Chief Joe Leszek has been discussing the project with town officials as he sought out three viable quotes. When members met for their first meeting of the month, Leszek provided them with the final figures.

A quote from Premiere Signs out of Goshen came in at $9,181.88. A second quote from Steindler Signs out of Wanatah was about $11,480 and the final quote he received from Simko signs out of Valparaiso was for approximately $15,900.

Leszek recommended going with the lowest quote from Premiere. He noted that the Fire Department has $3,500 set aside for this project so moving forward would require a $5,681 contribution from the town.

Chief Leszek went on to share what the cost would cover, noting that it will include the company redoing the street sign as well as the signs on the front and the parking lot side of the firehouse.

 “That will be them coming and doing all the work, all the electrical work, and that’s also figuring in for permits if they need to get them through the town.” He continued, “They’ll also be doing the street sign with new panels and converting that to LEDs and putting a base cover over the bottom of it to dress it up.”

He added that while the composite lettering on the building will not be backlit, a portion of the new design will be.

He said “We’ll have the Maltese Cross with our emblem in it, that will be backlit so the box with the Maltese Cross will be back lit on each side of the firehouse.”

Members unanimously approved Leszek’s recommendation to go with Premiere for the project as well as the town’s financial commitment.

North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department to Receive New Suits for Water and Ice Rescues

Posted on February 11, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI

North Judson-Wayne Township Volunteer Firefighters will be receiving some specific gear for water and ice rescues. 

Fire Chief Joe Leszek informed council members on Monday that currently, firefighters are responding to all calls in their turn out gear so they’ve been checking into different options that would be more fitting for particular types of calls.

He noted, “We’ve been looking to purchase some rescue suits for a lot of the ditch and water rescues we have to do around here.”

Leszek told council members they had a chance to look at some different types of suits when a few of NJ’s firefighters joined up with members from the Kouts, Boone-Grove, Morgan Township and LaCrosse Fire Departments for a training exercise in January.

“Each department brought their suits to the training so we were able to check them all out” Chief Leszek continued, “We were actually able to participate in the training, get trained ourselves on the ice rescue.”

The Fire Chief asked council members for permission to spend $1,170 out of the Department’s equipment budget to buy two Survive Tech Ice Rescue Suits from Five Alarm Fire. The members unanimously granted him permission to purchase the suits.

Chief Leszek said now that they have some suits of their own on the way, the firefighters who attended the training in January will conduct their own class to share the skills they picked up with the rest of the Department.

You can see the video of the training exercise at:

https://www.facebook.com/187879008060565/videos/1133322760169021/

North Judson Fire Chief Addresses Recent Runs with Town Council

Posted on January 12, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI

The North Judson-Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department has been busy recently, according to Fire Chief Joe Leszek.

Chief Leszek gave Town Council members a brief synopsis of some of the department’s runs during Monday night’s meeting.

He explained, “From November 28th to December 30 we had 29 calls. We had nineteen medical, four 10-50 car accidents, one brush fire, two structure fires, one call was a gas odor call and then we had two power lines down.

He noted they’ve also fielded a number of calls in January so they were actually up to more than 30 calls, as of Monday night’s meeting.

Leszek asked the council members they would prefer to receive information from his department in paper copies or if they’d rather have it emailed over. The general consensus was to have the reports sent electronically.

The chief said he’d acquire everyone’s email addresses so he could do that from now on. Leszek mentioned that he will regularly send department breakdowns like the one he delivered during the meeting. He added he will also include how many runs the individual firefighters have responded to throughout the year.