Ray Whitehouse/The Daily Northwestern
Evanston firefighters will soon respond to calls in a new fire engine courtesy of Northwestern, city officials announced last week.
The gift was prompted by Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl’s meeting with President Morton O. Schapiro this month to discuss future collaborations with NU. At the meeting, Tisdahl said she presented Schapiro with a “wish list,” which included a request for a new fire engine.
“Too many of our fire trucks are 15-years-old and 10 is the usual lifespan,” Tisdahl said. “It’s a terrific thing that Northwestern is able to do for us.”
At a City Council meeting Monday, the mayor and city council highlighted improving relations with NU as one of their policy-making priorities for the coming weeks. During the meeting, Tisdahl said the donation was “a good start” for the budding relationship between the new mayor and the new president.
University Spokesman Al Cubbage said NU’s administration was also happy with the $550,000 donation.
“We were pleased to be able to really comply with the number one on their list of priorities,” Cubbage said.
The fire engine, which differs from a fire truck in that it carries hoses and a pump as opposed to a ladder, will also be equipped to respond to calls for emergency medical services, said Evanston Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky.
Berkowsky said firefighters responded to more than 600 calls from the NU campus last year. In 2008, the department responded to a total of 9,134 calls in the city.
“The new engine is going to be at Station 3, right by Evanston Hospital,” Berkowsky said. “It will probably be used for most of our NU calls.”
Berkowsky said the new engine will be ready for service in about nine months and will be able to provide emergency medical services to students, which he said was the reason for most calls from NU. It may also be used to respond to sporadic false alarms on campus, he said.
“Northwestern has made great strides in false alarm reductions,” Berkowsky said,, “but you burn popcorn, you might set off an alarm.”
Students who have lived on campus said the false alarms are a familiar occurrence in the dorms.
“I lived in Allison last year and we had enough false alarms that it became a little ridiculous,” said Weinberg sophomore Chelsea Eddy.
Eddy said she never knew what caused the false alarms, but the colder months made the alarms particularly bothersome.
“There was a false alarm at three or four in the morning, so it woke me up,” she said. “Everyone was outside in their pjs. I think it was November or December. It wasn’t pleasant.”
The university’s demands on Evanston’s fire services made the gift particularly appropriate, Tisdahl said.
“There are a lot of areas where things are mutually beneficial and that’s what we were looking at for future projects,” she said.
Both Tisdahl and Cubbage said they anticipated improved communication between NU and Evanston in the coming years.
“We have an open and ongoing dialogue,” Tisdahl said. “We’re looking at future collaborations.”
