La Salle Fire Chief Andy Bacidore leaves long list of accomplishments

“I remember vividly the night I was being sworn in, and my dad says, ‘You’re going to have some tough times, and when you’re at the top, there’s a lot of lonely times,’ He was right, but 90% more enjoyable than lonely. You certainly have a lot of people to talk to and help.”

—  Andy Bacidore, La Salle fire chief

For the last 44 years, the La Salle fire chief has carried the Bacidore last name.

This May, that streak will come to an end, as longtime Fire Chief Andy Bacidore plans to retire after 38 years with the department, 24 as its leader.

Andy took over the position from his father, Bill Bacidore, in 1997. Bill was named head of the department in 1977, and both he and his son helped turn La Salle Fire Department into what it is today.

“I remember vividly the night I was being sworn in, and my dad says, ‘You’re going to have some tough times, and when you’re at the top, there’s a lot of lonely times,’ ” Bacidore said. “He was right, but 90% more enjoyable than lonely. You certainly have a lot of people to talk to and help.”

For Andy, the fire service runs deep throughout his family. His brother was fire chief in Elmhurst, his uncle and nephew were volunteer firefighters in La Salle and his son served in the La Salle Fire Department, along with others in his extended family.

“It’s kind of been a family affair type of thing,” Bacidore said. “When I took over for my dad, my goal was to try to move it up a notch. I had a lot of good ideas and some of them worked out, but not all of them are going to. You have to bring everybody along at the same time, and if it works, it works, but if it doesn’t, you turn around and plan again.”

He did take the department “up a notch,” helping La Salle’s emergency services grow and keeping residents safe.

Throughout Bacidore’s tenure, he oversaw many procedural changes that took effect after 9/11, helped form and run the La Salle Ambulance and was in charge when a deadly tornado destroyed parts of nearby Utica.

Bacidore and a team of local emergency workers also spent two weeks in the Gulf Coast helping with recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Bacidore recalled seeing the destruction caused by the storm that swiftly devastated entire neighborhoods and thinking there was no way to recover from what had happened.

He and his family were able to visit the area 10 years after the storm on a vacation, and he was inspired by the perseverance of the city.

“I was able to see that communities can recover,” Bacidore said. “You just have to know how to go about doing it and [that] there’s help out there. You just have to know how to go about accessing all of that stuff.”

Bacidore also was instrumental in forming the area’s Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Division, a collective of local departments defining response plans for major emergencies or natural disasters.

The plans are predetermined to alert all departments in the collective what they need to do in the case of an emergency.

Bacidore and a few other area chiefs saw this being done in the suburbs and decided to try to bring the same level of organization to the Illinois Valley.

“So next thing you know, you got all the departments in La Salle County as part of Division 25,” Bacidore said. “Then when Sept. 11 came, that’s when there were a few holdouts yet, that’s when all the grant money started to flow.”

Learning from his experiences dealing with the Utica Tornado, Hurricane Katrina and visiting the Washington, Illinois, tornado site, Bacidore got the city on board with disaster planning.

These comprehensive plans were put in place to make sure the city is as prepared as it can be for a major disaster.

With the many credentials on Bacidore’s resume, he said the formation of the La Salle Ambulance Service may be his biggest accomplishment.

It’s been about 10 years since the service was formed. Thanks to working with surrounding areas’ departments and bargain shopping, the service was able to get up and running with only $65,000 spent on equipment.

“As the revenue started coming in, we were able to save up money,” Bacidore said. “Now all of our ambulances that we have now were purchased brand new.”

Bacidore said to him, having the newest and shiniest equipment was never a top priority, but making sure the equipment works and can save lives is all that should matter.

The city had its fair share of supporters and skeptics in starting its own ambulance service, but it has proved to be a profitable decision and continued to improve response time to residents in need.

“It’s been a long ride, a hectic ride, but it’s without a doubt worth it,” Bacidore said. “We have quicker response times and what’s nice now is that when a fire truck goes out he’s got two additional people coming out with him in the ambulance.”

As with many working in emergency services, there are many calls and nights that will live with him forever – times where he stated was able to see the very best in people.

“There’s plenty I want to remember and there’s plenty that I’d like to forget, but that’s just not going to happen,” Bacidore said. “There are plenty in the fire service that are that way, same thing with law enforcement.”

Bacidore wanted to thank everyone who has had a hand in everything they accomplished – from his fellow firefighters, city officials, the residents of La Salle and surrounding chiefs and departments who have worked together over the years to keep people safe.

Bacidore has left a lasting imprint on the city of La Salle. His commitment to La Salle and its residents was on display every time he answered a call, day or night, rain or shine.

Bacidore is looking forward to the next chapter in his life and will be leaving some very big shoes to fill with the La Salle Fire Department.