McHenry County Blog

The Village of Lakewood has taken its second step toward providing fire protection for its residents independent of Crystal Lake.

Friday I was taking pictures near the village hall and wondered inside to ask a question.

Before leaving I learned that SEECOM, the Southeast Communications Center which dispatches police and fire calls, has agreed to allow Lakewood to use its services.

The Lakewood Police Department already avails itself of this centralized service. Now Lakewood’s new privatized fire department will be able to as well.

The next step toward independence could take place in Woodstock on December 20th. That’s when the village will ask to become a member of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm, the mutual assistance pact for local fire departments.

That’s the day Lakewood residents will find out if public safety is the deciding factor in the mutual assistant body’s decisions.

I called SEECOM’s Brian Hitchcock to confirm the dispatch news and was told,

On Thursday the SEECOM Executive Board voted to approve a contract with Lakewood fire.

We’re working on a contract at this moment.

When I asked what the difference in service would be starting next year, Hitchcock told me,

There won’t (be any).

Right now we’re dispatching Lakewood fire calls out of Crystal Lake. With a little re-programming, we will be dispatching them off the county fire channel.

And the cost will be “the same as any other agency we dispatch for at this point.”

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I wanted to take a picture of one of Lakewood's new pieces of fire equipment, but they have not yet been delivered to the old maintenance garage across from Crystal Lake' fire station between Country Club Additions and Turnberry.

So, you'll have to put up with a bit of whimsy.

When my son was 3 years old he, in the worst way, wanted to be a yellow fire truck for Halloween. Look how creative my wife was! It's yellow, has a ladder, a fire hose, bumpers and wheels. You can tell it's not designed for use in Lakewood because it says, "Airport Rescue" on its side. That was one persuasive video.