On December 4, 2021, the City of Sterling tragically lost Lieutenant Garrett Ramos in a line of duty death at the scene of a fire in rural Rock Falls. The fire service is an inherently dangerous and difficult occupation that requires a passionate commitment among those who serve and their families.
Immediately following this tragedy, City officials from Sterling and Rock Falls worked cooperatively with State Agencies, including the Office of the State Fire Marshall and the Illinois Department of Labor/Illinois OSHA to ensure this was investigated thoroughly to understand what occurred.
The Illinois Department of Labor issued a report regarding the incident dated April 5, 2022. The report contains suggestions for improvement within the Department that are already being undertaken, including reviews of standard operating guidelines and policies, as well as the additional training.
IDOL also recommends improvements to Whiteside County’s dispatch radio coverage. Coverage gaps, particularly in the rural areas of the County, impair firefighters and other first responders from being able to reach dispatch with their portable radios. IDOL has identified that these gaps as out of compliance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards.
Prior to receiving this report, the Sterling and Rock Falls Fire Departments jointly reached out to the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute to update and schedule training for emergency scene accountability, Rapid Intervention Teams, 2-in-2-out policies and Mayday procedures for both departments. Portable radios have been reprogrammed to avoid accidental changes between the primary and tactical channels. The Cities of Sterling and Rock Falls say they will ask the Whiteside County Dispatch to address the radio coverage concern.
The report contains suggestions for improvement within the Department the cities say are already being undertaken, including reviews of standard operating guidelines and policies, as well as the additional training.
Officials say the report does contain errors that will be appealed as stated in the press release, including such things as misidentification of the Accountability Officer on the scene. IDOL has, as part of its report, issued citations to the cities of Sterling and Rock Falls. Sterling City Manager Scott Schumard said they are reviewing these citations to determine the best course of action to best serve the obligations to the members of the Fire Departments and their families.
