Overview

The Bourbonnais Fire Protection District is a combination fire department, serving the Village of Bourbonnais, unincorporated portions of Bourbonnais Township, and a small portion of Ganeer Township. The department provides protection to nearly 36,000 residents over a 36 square mile area. The district covers rural areas, providing for such calls as high-speed country road accidents, farm and machinery equipment rescue, and water and cliff rescues from the nearby Kankakee River State Park and the Indian Caves on the Perry Farm. The district also includes over seven miles of railroad for passenger and freight trains, as well as approximately seven miles of interstate traffic, with one interchange. About half of the residents live within the village limits of Bourbonnais.

About the Village...

     The Village is a medium-sized town including eight elementary schools, one high school vocational school and one college university campus. The District also protects many employees who are employed by Fortune 500 corporate offices, industrial and pharmaceutical facilities, one natural gas and four petroleum pipelines, an electrical substation and municipal water supply facilities. The residents include many nursing and group home patrons and working families who either work in our immediate area or commute to the suburbs and the city of Chicago. A significant number of our citizens have been deemed part of the 'at risk' population in previous FEMA and USFA documents. The fire district and the village will feel the impact of continued growth in the coming years. While new homes have brought retail businesses, such a strip malls and stand-alone business buildings, it has increased the need for a vast amount of churches and medical facilities. These facilities are considered not-for-profit, thus shrinking the property tax base. Very few industrial patrons have moved into our area over recent years.

About the department...

     The Bourbonnais Rural fire department was formed in 1948 to respond to fire emergencies in the local farming community. The department grew in size to 3 stations over the years, providing for the safety of the area for over 60 years. In 1986, the rural department and the village combined to form what is today, the Bourbonnais Fire Protection District

     The district answered 2,962 emergency calls in 2014 - the most in the history of the department. The department consists of 12 full-time district career members, 3 full-time contractual firefighter/paramedics, 18 paid-on-call members, and 14 part-time members. The fire station is staffed 24 hours a day. In general, there are 7 firefighters on duty at the station 24 hours a day. Three full-time members are also on staff at the station Monday through Friday during regular office hours, along with a Department administrative assistant. Each firefighter is put through a semester long fire academy, at the conclusion of which a test for firefighter II certification is given. Each member must complete a semester long course for EMT-B certification, following which a 3 semester Paramedic course may be taken.  Full-time members must be certified paramedics. To learn more about becoming a member, visit ourapplication page.

     The district consists of one fire station which houses 14 vehicles including 3 ambulances, 3 engines, 1 ladder truck, 1 brush truck, 3 command vehicles, a boat, and a tactical rescue semi-trailer (For more information, visit theapparatus page). Each vehicle is equipped with the industry standard in firefighting tools, all of which are regularly tested and maintained. The district is managed to respond to nearly any type of incident in the area, and also provide an adequate and efficient response to similar emergencies in neighboring districts. To better fulfill this role, Bourbonnais Fire Protection District is a member of the MABAS 7 area wide response unit. In the event of a mass-response incident, MABAS effectively manages when, where, and which units to send.

     For more information regarding the department, you may contact us with any questions you have.