Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 09-23-2026: Sauk Valley fire chiefs talk updates and events

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Talk Line 09-23-2026: Sauk Valley fire chiefs talk updates and events · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And now it's time for Talk Line. And I'm joined
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: once again by our good friends, our Sauk Valley Area
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Fire Chiefs, Sterling's Chief David Northcutt, Dixon Rural Chief Dustin Dahlstrom,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and Rock Falls Chief Kyle Summers, all joining me live
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: this morning. Fellas, how are you? Good.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having us.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. I'd say I'd light a fire under you guys,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: but I think you get enough of that. So there
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: we go. You guys are here with some fire safety tips,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: but first I think even more interesting and important is
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: the way that you all work together and your departments
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: and the interconnectivity of that, making sure that the Sauk
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Valley is covered. Kind of explain that a little bit
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: more for folks on how that works. They'd be like,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: what do you mean? What does Dixon need to do
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: with a Sterling fire? Well, when your house is on fire,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: you probably won't care.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we've been training together for quite a while.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Back about a year ago, we actually brought in an
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: outside instructor to come and do some training on command
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: structure for us. And after that, all four of our
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: departments in Dixon, Sterling, and Rock Falls, we all consolidated
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: our command structure. So it's all operating under the same umbrella.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: So We all operate the same way. If there's a
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: fire in Rock Falls, the chiefs from Dixon and Sterling
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: are coming. Likewise, the other departments, we're going to be
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: going there. So we all operate under the same system.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: We're 15 minutes away from each other and we're all
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: four small enough departments that we have to rely on
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: outside agencies, not just the four of us, but volunteer
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: departments as well. And like Chief said, we've been training
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: together and running calls together for a long time. But
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: now we've started putting the command structure together and our
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: SOGs and SOPs are now aligned with each other. So
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: it doesn't matter which department we go to, we all
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: operate the same way.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: What we're learning with these new modern fuels, synthetic fuels,
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: how fast these fires are burning, command has become a
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: team sport. It takes more than just one incident commander
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: now at a buggy. And what we've done is we,
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: the incident command system, our standing operator, operating procedures and
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: the tactics and strategies, bring those all together. And we
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: all operate off the same core values of those, and
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: it makes very efficient firegrounds.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: So that's the goal. And I have to imagine this
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: makes it easier if, you know, maybe somebody is out
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: on vacation six, you know, God forbid something happened, can't
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: make it. This just kind of allows any one of
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: you to be able to jump in. And like you said,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: there's no confusion there. everybody's running out of the same playbook,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: so to speak.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I've been in command of fires in Sterling when Dave's gone. Likewise,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Dave's been in command of fires in Rock Falls when
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: we're gone. So it doesn't matter who we are, what
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: department we're with, we all operate the same way, and
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: we all cover each other when it's needed.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: And the same thing, we've had fires that Dustin was
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: closest to just because of Geographics, and when he got there,
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: he took command, and when we got there, we didn't
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: take it over. We're still responsible because it's our jurisdiction,
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: but we didn't take it over because we trust that
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: he's running things the same way we are. So he
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: stayed in command and we went to positions that he needed.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: We've run as far as Dixon has implemented the auto
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: box system. So a structure fire, confirmed structure fire drops
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: the dispatch and the county knows to move right to
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: the Mavis auto box system and they're dispatching the resources
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: needed without a cue from us to do it. So
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: it's coming automatically. So All the parts and pieces are
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: moving five, six minutes faster these days than in times before,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: and I believe they've done some of the same things
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: over at Rock Falls and Sterling.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you just see the technologies, the different things
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: that are coming together. I love the Connect program that
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: you guys have. Is everybody using that?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Rock Falls and Sterling are both using Community Connect, and
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: they can just Google Community Connect Rock Falls, Community Connect Sterling,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: And it will refer them to the website. They can
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: get on there and they can put in some vital information.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: The fire departments are the only ones that have access
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: to that. That information is not shared out across the
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: web or anything like that. But then we get valuable
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: information about the houses so we can kind of pre-plan
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: on the way to the call if necessary.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: And that's anyone in our jurisdictions. It's not just in
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: the city limits. Anybody that Sterling Fire covers or anybody
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: that Rock Falls Fire covers.
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: We use a program called HyperReach. It's a little different.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: but this is for mass notifications. Dixon City and Dixon
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Rural have it together, so it's in the full geographical
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: boundary of Dixon Rural encompassing the city. So if anybody
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: has questions on Hyper Reach, reach out to one of
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: our two departments, but that's for mass weather notifications or
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: if there's an event that we have to let a
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: whole geographical area know, like shelter in place, anything like that,
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: we're able to do that. So if they have any
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: questions on that, tell them to reach out to us.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Dixon Rural, Dixon City, we can get them set up
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: on their phones.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Definitely be proactive. Reach out ahead of time. Make sure
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: you have that information. And, you know, speaking of weather,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: it's getting cooler. The leaves are going to be dropping. Anything,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: any fire safety tips, anything that you guys see this
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: kind of time of year as things get colder that
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: folks should be mindful of?
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: One thing I will mention in Rock Falls, it's not
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: necessarily a fire safety tip, but just a reminder, city
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: of Rock Falls, the ordinance, there is no open burning allowed,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: so yard waste can't be burned. It has to be
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: disposed of with normal garbage like you would any other
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: type of yard waste. But otherwise, like I said, make
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: sure to follow that ordinance, dispose of the leaves properly,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: because I know people want to get rid of them quickly,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: but no open burning allowed in Rock Falls for yard waste.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: That's the same thing for Sterling. As forest tips go,
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: we're getting... to where everybody's going to start turning their
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: furnaces on. So we recommend that somebody come in and
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: check the furnaces before you start using them. And then
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: if you're using any space heaters or anything, first of all,
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: follow the recommendations of the manufacturer, but then keep it
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: away from anything that's combustible, three-foot radius, that type of thing.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Good tips, good tips. Love it, guys. I'm sure we
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: were speaking before off air, you've got some events coming up.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Yep, absolutely. So this Friday in Rock Falls at the
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Riverfront Park is the annual taco throwdown. Sterling Fire Department
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: and Rock Falls Fire Department are going to be there
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: with the Hopkins family. We're doing some fire safety tips, giveaways.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: We'll have some smoke detectors to hand out, some raffles
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: that we can hand out. People can also sign up
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: for the State Fire Marshal Smoke Detector Program and they
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: can sign up for Community Connect as well if they
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: wish to do that. So we'll be there from 4
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: o'clock until they tell us to leave.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: We've got one October 4th. It's the Sterling Fire Department
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: block party, if you will, for the fire prevention side
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: of things. And we're bringing in OSFM's dog, the helicopter,
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: a couple of different Events like extrication show, things like that.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: And same thing that we're doing at the Taco Throwdown
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: with Community Connect and everything. And actually the Hopkins family
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: is going to come and be a part of.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: That as well. And then the last thing that we have,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: October 31st, our Firefighters Union is hosting their annual First
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Responder 5K at Centennial Park. They're going to be doing
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: a fun run this year. They're going to be, I think,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: doing some costumes and stuff like that. And I won't
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: be the only one in a costume this year, hopefully.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: That's good to see. So hopefully other people, I can't
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: tell you yet, but hopefully other people will be in
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: a costume as well since it's on Halloween. But it's
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: a really good time. If people are interested, they can
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: look it up on Facebook. They've got events posted on there.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: People can sign up ahead of time or they can
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: come the day of to Centennial Park and come join
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: us on a fun run.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Fun run. Is that like icy hot, one of those
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: oxymoron words? I've not found a run I've found fun yet,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: but I'll take your word for it.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: They do a great job. It's a fun time, even
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: though running for me is torture. I'll still do it
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: because it's a good time. They do a really great
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: job setting it up, so I'd be glad to have
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: anybody that wants to join us for that.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Get out there. If that's your idea of fun, you sicko,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: go join them. If not, go run for a good cause.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: You cannot like it along the way and still be
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: doing something great. I absolutely love that. Anything else you
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: guys wanted to share this morning?
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: I don't think so. Thank you.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: No, thank you guys for coming in and for your service,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: putting your lives on the line and being the watchers
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: on the rim when it comes to fire safety in
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the Sauk Valley. We truly appreciate it.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: Thanks for having us.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Thank you.