Scott Gordon/The Summer Northwestern Alan Berkowsky, who officially became Evanston's fire chief on June 14, works in his office at the Department of Fire and Life-Safety Services, 909 Lake St. Berkowsky has worked for the department for 21 years, both i [Click to enlarge]

Alan Berkowsky has worked for Evanston's Department of Fire and Life-Safety Services for 21 years, and now he plans to use his experience to guide the department through new problems and changes.

Berkowsky, whom City Manager Roger Crum officially appointed this month as the city's fire chief, had already served as the department's acting chief since December, following the retirement of former chief John Wilkinson. But an acting chief, who primarily supervises the department until a permanent replacement is found, doesn't have the standing to initiate long-term changes in the department.

"With the permanency of being appointed, you're going to make changes that you think are in the best interests of the department," said Berkowsky, 45. He said as chief he wants to help the department improve its training and strengthen its ability to handle a variety of emergencies.

The city received about 200 applications for the position and Crum said a total of seven applicants were interviewed. Four of them, including Berkowsky, were already department employees.

Berkowsky was chosen based on his "knowledge of the department, knowledge of fire service and an understanding of what direction the fire department needed to be moving in," Crum said.

While the fire chief will have to deal with ocassional budget problems, Crum said Berkowsky's most important task will be maintaining a high level of quality.

"I think mainly it's the challenge of taking a very good department and keeping it excellent," Crum said.

Berkowsky also is focused primarily on making sure everyday operations run smoothly. He said the department has 110 employees, gets about 24 calls a day and handled 8,000 calls in 2003.

"Every single call, you gotta do it right," he said. Most of the calls the department gets are medical emergencies and fires, but fire employees also are called to inspect suspicious odors, help people who get trapped in elevators and assist handicapped people.

"If they don't know who to call, they call the fire

department," Berkowsky said.

The new fire chief became interested in working as a paramedic when he was a high school student in the 1970s. He later earned a degree in Fire Science from Oakton Community College.

Berkowsky first worked for the Chicago Fire Department, but his goal was to work for a suburban department. He began work with Evanston's department in 1981 as a firefighter/paramedic and has since served as a captain, chief of administrative services, and fire marshall. He officially became fire chief at the June 14 City Council meeting.

He said that in the next few years, he'll look for ways to improve the department and deal with upcoming personnel changes.

Many of the department's employees, especially those hired in the mid-1970s, will be leaving soon in order to qualify for retirement pension benefits. "With that, you're going to lose a lot of experience," Berkowsky said. He wants to start a mentoring program to make sure that new employees are well-trained, guided into the right positions and evaluated more frequently.

New concerns raised by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks also have placed new and different demands on fire departments. Berkowsky wants firefighter training to have a greater emphasis on protecting and rescuing firefighters and communicating with fire departments in other cities during catastrophic situations.

"Illinois probably has the best network of resources of any state," he said. If fire departments in nearby cities need help, they can use the state's Mutual Aid Box Alarm System to get other departments to lend workers and equipment.

Firefighters also should be trained to deal with problems more specific to Evanston, Berkowsky said. He wants his department to be able to deal with fires in the high-rise condominium and office buildings that have been built in the city in recent years.

City Editor Scott Gordon is a Medill junior.

He can be reached at j-gordon5@northwestern.edu.

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