Kane County Chronicle
August 03, 2006

By Eric Schelkopf and Nick Swedberg

Firefighters in North Aurora and St. Charles now have a new tool when they respond to an emergency.

Department vehicles have been, or soon will be, equipped with laptop computers that can show firefighters if a house has smoke detectors or if any residents require special assistance, such as if they are in a wheelchair.

The information will be accessible to firefighters on the way to a scene.

"It tells us everything about a building that we might want to know when we pull up to the scene," North Aurora Fire Bureau Chief Mark Bozik said.

Beyond North Aurora and St. Charles, Chicago-based RealView also offered the technology to departments in Aurora and Park Ridge.

"If we know the building has fire alarms in it, we know the occupants have some type of warning," Bozik said. "The technology gives us better information to make better decisions."

Residents can help firefighters to obtain that information by submitting it through a Web site.

Bozik assured residents that the information they provided would not be shared. Since July 1, 16 village residents have signed on for the program.

"We understand that there is personal information that they don't want shared," Bozik said.

North Aurora Fire Protection District is the first department among the four to allow residents to complete a fire preplan online, Bozik said.

St. Charles is in the process of setting up a similar Web site.

Just as in North Aurora, submitting information will be completely voluntary.

St. Charles Fire Chief Al Schullo said a company representative approached the department with the technology.

"The whole thing we're trying to do is standardize the information," Schullo said. "Make it mobile and automated."

For now, the CommandScope software will be used to access information about commercial buildings such as shut-offs for gas and electric, sprinkler rooms and hazardous processes.

Wireless tablets and laptop computers stored on trucks allow firefighters to download the information while at the scene of a fire.

"That's real-time information," Schullo said.

The technology would be used instead of large books of blueprints and building plans collected by the city and updated with inspections.

Schullo expects other departments would eventually want to adopt the technology for their own use and doesn't mind his department being the model for them.

"I'd love us to be the showcase. Who wouldn't?" Schullo said

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