"Protecting the Town of Yesteryear With the Modern Technology of Today"

 
Nixle

Rick Gallas has served as the Chief of the Richmond Fire Protection District since May 2005.  He began his fire career as a Fox River Grove volunteer in 1993, while working full time as a marketing executive.  He came to Richmond from Batavia Fire to become the District's full time Fire Chief.  He has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from The University of Wisconsin - Parkside.  His experience includes 20+ years in Corporate America specializing in Strategic Planning, Business Planning, Commercial Development and Marketing.   Rick has 15 years of fire fighting  and management experience in the fire service.  He is an Illinois State certified Firefighter II, an IDPH Lead Instructor, a Paramedic for over 12 years and he maintains advanced medical certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and Basic Trauma Life Support .  

As the district's full time fire chief, Chief Gallas is working to transition the department from a volunteer and paid-on-call (POC) department  to a paid-on-premise (POP) staff with station staffing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Since joining Richmond Fire, Chief Gallas has developed Richmond's first Fire Prevention Bureau, brought 12-Lead Cardiac monitoring to the Richmond ambulances, developed full, 24-hour station staffing 7-days a week, reduced the departments reaction time for emergency calls to an average of 1 minute, and scene response times to an average of 4 1/2 to 5 minutes, and developed wildland firefighting to the capabilities of the department for protecting the more than 5,000 acres of wildland that is in the fire district with an ever growing urban interface. 

Chief Gallas has been married for 35 years to his wife Paula and they have two grown children.  Chief Gallas served for six years in the U.S. Army Reserve. Chief Gallas states, "The Richmond Township Fire Protection District in becoming more professional in every way as each days goes by.  The citizens of the greater Richmond area expect this type of quality service and we will continuously strive to be the best.  Every member of our department, who answers the bell when the alarm sounds for the sole purpose of helping our citizens during their time of need, has my utmost respect.  And it is this common thread that will enable us to be successful to the highest level possible in the profession we have all chosen, to be Professional Firefighters, Paramedics and EMTs.

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