Answering the Call: Nicor Gas Announces Grants supporting the Illinois Fire Service Institute and Illinois Fire Chiefs Association

Nicor Gas expands its support of fire service organizations dedicated to keeping our communities safe through contributions, cooperative outreach and training

At Nicor Gas, safety is our number one value. It guides everything our employees do, from the office to the field and back home each day. Few professions are as ingrained in and committed to the safety of the communities we serve than the fire service. Nicor Gas employees work closely with fire departments across our service territory every day and, when necessary, firefighters respond to emergencies in the field alongside Nicor Gas personnel.

Nicor Gas values the relationships it has with fire service professionals across its service area. Margi Schiemann, director of community affairs at Nicor Gas and a 25-year member of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association Educational and Research Foundation Board of Directors, leads the company’s liaison activities with the Illinois fire service. “Our partners in the fire service play a key role in supporting Nicor Gas’ mission to provide safe and reliable energy to the communities we serve,” says Schiemann. “We see the benefits of the relationships we build with the fire service first-hand when we come together to respond to emergencies.”

• The company focuses on building and maintaining relationships with the Illinois fire service in several ways.
  Each year Community Affairs representatives go to dozens of fire departments to talk about how Nicor Gas maintains a safe system and how we can best coordinate our response to natural gas emergencies.
• Nicor Gas’ Technical Training and Community Affairs departments host an annual hands-on training at the company’s Troy Grove Storage Field where 100 firefighters practice how to properly extinguish natural gas fires.
• This year, after a year working with the IFSI, Nicor Gas launched a new online Natural Gas Safety training module housed on the IFSI training platform. Firefighters from across the state have access to this 45-minute online, self-paced training module.
• Nicor Gas engages with fire departments each year to conduct mock exercises where both Nicor Gas and fire departments test their emergency response processes and protocols.
• Each year in the fall, Nicor Gas employees attend about 50 fire department open houses across northern Illinois reaching an estimated 35,000 residents to educate them about natural gas safety.

In addition to close operational cooperation, Nicor Gas also provides financial support to the fire service, enabling the training and development of Illinois firefighters. In 2021, Nicor Gas provided $20,000 to the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) to support firefighter training programs. The IFSI is the statutory State Fire Academy for Illinois, reaching approximately 60,000 firefighters, and serves as the oldest continuous fire training institution in the United States. Nicor Gas also provided a $10,000 grant to the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA) Foundation to fund development opportunities and training programs for firefighters. The IFCA is dedicated to promoting excellence in the fire service by providing an information-sharing network and by offering educational, legislative and technical opportunities to its diverse membership and associated partners.

“Nicor Gas and the Illinois fire service benefit from a multi-faceted partnership while working together to keep our communities safe,” says Jim Grady, executive director of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. “Nicor Gas’ support of our first responders and promotion of safety information is one of several ways our organizations help to strengthen each other’s impact.”