"We have a chief ready to go."

On Saturday, October 4, 2025, the South Beloit Concerned Citizens group shared their plan forward for the South Beloit Fire Department at a townhall-style meeting at the South Beloit High School auditorium. The group members claim well over 100 years of firefighting experience. Highlighted in the group's plan, was their work in identifying a fire chief who would be able to bring a crew of seven other firefighting and EMT/paramedic staff with him.

Meanwhile, the City of South Beloit is paying the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association to help them find and hire a full-time Fire Chief, with a salary of $90,000 – $120,000 per year, working primarily during office hours. According to the official advertisement for the position [PDF], applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. on November 10, 2025.

Jack Redieske has led many of the Concerned Citizens meetings since October 2024. He says, "They (the city) can hire the chief they know we've got. I talked to the chief yesterday. He could start today or tomorrow. And he could have those seven guys come in right now to get the thing going." Redieske is a former South Beloit firefighter and South Beloit school district board member.

For this meeting, group invited South Beloit city council members via certified letter to attend and set up a table at their Saturday meeting. No city council members were in attendance.

Illinois Open Meeting laws might have made it difficult for the South Beloit city council to attend. When a majority of a quorum gathers at a social event (3 of 5 members) and discusses a city business, that could lead to violating Illinois Open Meeting laws.

Mr. Redieske also shared that according to a conversation he had with Mayor Fitzgerald that the city was also exploring a staffing route with Metro Paramedic Services to hire a fire chief and staff. Metro Paramedic is also used by the Belvidere Fire Department, Boone County Fire Protection District #2, and North Park Fire District #2.

Response times and number of staff at the station were raised as a concern for community members. In January, February and March 2025, the Town of Beloit staffed the South Beloit Fire station with three staff (the minimum to operate a fire engine) for 16 of 90 shifts. This would leave a fire engine coming from the Town of Beloit or Rockton, Roscoe, or the City of Beloit for the other 24 hour shifts.

"Mutual aid is not there to cover your department because you don't have the staffing," said Redieske.

The group also took a moment to thank both Harlem-Roscoe and Rockton fire districts for their mutual aid support, but expressed concerns that the current situation in South Beloit might become overwhelming.

"Thank God with Harlem-Roscoe and Rockton. We've had a good relationship with them for years," said Mr. Redieske. "Rockton and Roscoe are getting overwhelmed because they are backing up South Beloit so much. Their people are getting wore out."

South Beloit Mayor Tom Fitzgerald responded as to why he did not attend the meeting. He cited in a letter shared with the public on October 5 that his attendance would not do any good as he had no new information to share with the public about the search for a fire chief. The letter goes on to highlight how the city "retained the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association to search for candidates for a South Beloit fire chief." The IFCA, according to that letter will conduct the interviews, make recommendations to the council, and the council will work with the new chief to build the department.

Councilman Courtney Prentice concurred with Mr. Fitzgerald's that the IFCA is conducting the hiring and keeping council member and former fire chief Ken Morse and city administrator Sonya Hoppes in the loop on the progress. Mr. Prentice did attend a townhall-style meeting in January but was unable to attend the October meeting due to a wedding. However, he is "not sure where the Concerned Citizens Group is getting that information" (that a chief is ready to go).

In addition, Rockton-Roscoe News learned from the City of Beloit that City of Beloit and Town of Beloit fire chief Daniel Pease retired from his position on Wednesday. Per Tim Wellnitz, Town of Beloit's town administrator, the Town of Beloit and City of South Beloit's acting fire chief is Todd Farley, a battalion chief with the Beloit Fire Department since 2023. Mr. Farley will continue to be fire chief until an interim fire chief is appointed by the Beloit Police and Fire Commission.