Monday, July 11, 2011
The 30-year veteran recalls the most memorable blaze he fought.
Steve Borkowski wasn’t the kind of kid who grew up chasing sirens and dreaming of being a firefighting hero. He never thought about firefighting much at all until, when he was a young man, a friend raised the idea of joining the fire department. The excitement of the job appealed to him, and Borkowksi applied. He was 23 years old when he joined the Niles Fire Department in 1981, and he has never left. “I still enjoy going out on calls and talking with the guys,” said Borkowski. “I still enjoy the tactical part of the job.” Borkowksi was named fire chief at the village board meeting May 24, after serving as acting chief since the retirement of Barry Mueller in November. Borkowski said the department’s nearly 60 employees won’t see much of a…
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Local establishments decorate trees to help feed the hungry.
The JC Penney court got a bit brighter Saturday morning when Golf Mill Shopping Center kicked off its Festival of Trees food drive. The event corresponded with the mall's welcoming of the holiday season, which included the arrival of Santa Claus into Winter Wonderland in the mall's center court and carolers from Des Plaines Willows Academy. The Chicago Pet Rescue, Home Depot, Maine Township Mainestreamers, Niles Chamber of Commerce, Niles Fire Department, Niles Police Department, Niles Public Library, Niles Senior Center, St. Juliana School in Edison Park and St. Matthews Church in Niles have all decorated a tree to fit the mall's 50th anniversary theme of "Then and Now." "It is heartwarming to see how these businesses put their creative …
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
After a 33-year career, Barry Mueller is moving on to new adventures.
Barry Mueller has been through a lot with the Niles Fire Department: the Des Plaines Theater Fire, the post-9/11 calls reporting white powder thought to be anthrax, the delivery driver who pulled into the station with a ticking package he thought was a bomb, and more. But Mueller, 56, who joined the department in 1977 as a 23-year-old firefighter/paramedic and progressed through the ranks to become fire chief, accepted the village of Niles' early retirement incentive package. "I've loved my career. But I knew I didn't want to do it for my entire life," he said recently in an interview with Niles Patch at Starbucks. "Being a fire chief is enjoyable, but it is stressful. I was constantly thinking about it. It stays in your head and never …
42.040126
-87.835016
Village of Niles Fire Department
8360 W Dempster St, Niles, IL
/articles/retiring-fire-chief-talks-memorable-fires-terrorism-scares
290794
/locations/2521224
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Chief Barry Mueller retires as Steve Borkowski is welcomed in as his interim replacement.
The Niles Fire Department has seen a lot of changes this month, with Fire Chief Barry Mueller and three others retiring. Steve Borkowski, who served as deputy chief for the past four years, is now the acting chief. Mueller, who became chief in 2006, is followed into retirement by John Zeman, a district chief, as well as by Tom Seelos and Robert Pierski, both fire apparatus engineers. Pierski, who has served in the department since 1976, was honored at October's village board meeting. Borkowski started with the fire department in October 1981. Since then, he has climbed the proverbial ladder, being promoted to lieutenant in 1989, district chief in 1999 and deputy chief in 2006. He will now be in charge of the department's nearly 60 …
