911 calls up in Sycamore, data shows

SYCAMORE – The Sycamore Fire Department is gearing up to expand its operations, hire more firefighters and, by this time next year, open a new fire station.

Fire Chief Bart Gilmore recently spoke about his department’s 2025 goals and recapped 2024 operations for the Sycamore City Council. Gilmore also recently hosted a groundbreaking as the city of Sycamore moves forward with plans to build a new fire station at 1351 S. Prairie Drive.

The $10.5 million station is expected to replace the aging 68-year-old fire station at 535 DeKalb Ave. and serve as the city’s main fire department hub, Gilmore said.

“The big thing for 2024 was the development and design of the new fire station,” Gilmore said. “We anticipate taking possession [of the building] in spring 2026.”

Gilmore spoke as he presented his department’s 2024 annual report at a May 5 Sycamore City Council meeting.

In 2024, Sycamore firefighters and paramedics responded to 2,996 calls, slightly up from the number of 911 calls received in 2023, according to the report. Of those calls, 84% were for emergency medical help and 16% were fire-related, data shows. Of the 77 fire calls, about 25 were for structure fires.

Sycamore firefighters also responded to 25 structures fires in DeKalb. That’s part of what’s known as mutual aid response, where a station’s shift may be busy responding to a different call. So, if another 911 call comes in while they’re out, municipalities will rely on surrounding fire departments to respond on their behalf.

Sometimes, off-duty Sycamore firefighters also will be called back in to respond while an on-duty shift is busy, Gilmore said.

That was the trend in 2024. In 2022, 48% of the Sycamore Fire Department’s call volume included overlapping calls, meaning a 911 call came in fewer than 30 minutes after another. In 2024, that’s now at 50%, data shows.

“And where that really affects is that it’s an increase in overtime, impacts our firefighters – they’re required to come back to work more often,” Gilmore said. “It’s a heavier reliance on surrounding fire departments that are facing the same thing.”

One of the goals once the new fire station is built is to improve 911 response times in the area, Gilmore said.

South Prairie Drive, where the new fire station will go, is situated where most of the city’s 911 calls are generated, data shows. Gilmore said the ideal call response time is less than four minutes.

“Our call volume is mainly south of State Street,” Gilmore said. “And where the new fire station is is center of that.”

The city’s largest fire in 2024 was after an explosion in December at Seymour Paint Co., 917 Crosby St. A dozen fire departments from across the region came to aid Sycamore firefighters in the explosion, which injured multiple employees and caused about $40,000 in damage. A July dryer fire at Best Western Inn, 1935 DeKalb Ave., also injured a hotel employee and caused about $45,000 in damage.

The number of 911 calls that are from those seeking emergency medical aid in Sycamore is higher than the state average, data shows.

“Do we have any idea why we see such a high EMS rate?” 4th Ward Alderperson Ben Bumpus said.

Gilmore said it’s a combination of the average age of Sycamore’s population, which is aging, and the need for medical aid in a time where local hospital emergency rooms are overburdened.

“A lot of that is symptomatic of the load that’s in the emergency room,” Gilmore said. “I’m sure you’ve all heard stories of three-, four-, six-, 12-hour wait times, [when] ‘I can get an ambulance and I can get right to the front line.’ And I don’t blame people for that.”

In 2024, the department hired four new full-time firefighters, although one has since resigned. Gilmore said the 2025 goal is to replace that resignation and hire another in anticipation of an impending retirement.

The department also has ongoing local career development programs meant to encourage area youth to pursue careers as firefighters and paramedics. The department joined Project Fire Buddies, a national nonprofit that supports critically ill children and their families.

Gilmore oversees 31 full-time first responders and six apprentices, a career pipeline meant to train and potentially feed into full-time jobs.

Because the city’s main fire station moved from DeKalb Avenue to South Prairie Drive, Gilmore’s also planning to realign the department’s response areas so first responders from that station and the one at 2100 Frantum Road can work efficiently.

Training for the city’s first-ever ladder truck begins June 9. Gilmore said the plan is to start using that emergency response vehicle by August.