It was in with the new and out with the old for the Kankakee Fire Department.

At Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting, the department leadership presented the four newest members to the force and, at the same time, bid farewell to its 1991 fire engine.

With the newest hires, the department now stands at 49 officers. The department is budgeted for 51, Chief Bryan LaRoche said.

Of the newest officers, three are from Kankakee – two having completed the two-year cadets program – and one officer, born and raised in Montreal, Canada, played professional hockey within the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

Following the meeting, LaRoche said the department continues to seek applicants and the goal will be having two more firefighters hired at some point this year.

“We are very excited by these hires,” LaRoche said.

The new firefighters had been hired in November and December.

Mayor Chris Curtis noted bringing the staffing levels to the budgeted level will aid in keeping overtime pay down.

The new hires are:

· Abraham Hurtado, 32, of Kankakee. A lifelong Kankakeean, he is a 2010 graduate of Rantoul Township High School. He and his partner, Jackie, are parents to two.

Hurtado noted he worked eight years at Armstrong World Industries in Kankakee, which has since been purchased by AHF Products, and produces flooring.

He completed a two-year internship through the Kankakee Fire Department Academy.

· Javier Rodriguez, 31, of Kankakee. A Kankakee resident, Rodriguez is a 2012 Kankakee High School graduate. He worked 11 years with Freedom Graphics in Aurora.

He has been a volunteer firefighter and paramedic with the Kankakee Township and the Limestone Fire Departments before joining Kankakee. He also worked as a part-time paramedic with Riverside Ambulance.

· David Gilbert, 34, of Lockport. Born and raised in French-speaking Montreal, Gilbert was a late arrival to firefighting.

His first professional venture was in professional hockey. Gilbert was a 2009 seventh-round National Hockey League draft selection of the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

A forward, he played parts of five seasons with the Rockford Ice Hogs, an affiliate organization of the Chicago franchise. He played hockey in Canada, United States, and Europe before ending his career in 2014.

After ending his hockey career, he worked one year in Joliet in freight logistics before he began pursuing a career in fire service.

His first day on duty with Kankakee was Monday.

· Martyn Gonzalez, 23, of Kankakee. Gonzalez is a 2021 Kankakee High School graduate as also completed the department’s two-year training program.

Before joining Kankakee, he worked part-time within the Monee Fire Protection District in 2024-25.

Fire engine for sale

Regarding the 1991 fire truck, LaRoche noted the vehicle had been part of the city’s reserve/standby equipment for about 10 years and had been largely unused.

He said the expense to restore the engine simply was unreasonable, so the time had come to put the engine “out to pasture.”

“It is beyond repair,” he said.

He noted the city is anticipating the delivery of its new fire engine in April, which also makes the 1991 vehicle unnecessary.

The Kankakee City Council approved an ordinance on Monday allowing LaRoche to place the engine as surplus equipment, allowing the department to place it up for sale.