James Clark, former Oak Brook fire official who died at 86, ‘had everybody’s respect.’
As chief of the Oak Brook Fire Department and president of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association in the late 1980s, James E. Clark left an enduring legacy in the field of fire prevention, statewide and locally.
Mr. Clark, 86, chief of the Oak Brook Fire Department from 1977 to 1988, died Sunday, Feb. 8, at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital after a bout with pneumonia. He was a resident of Oak Brook.
Mr. Clark was a key player in the passage of the state Smoke Detector Act, which mandates the use of smoke detectors in residential buildings, and he pushed for an ordinance in Oak Brook — initially met with great resistance but eventually adopted by the Village Board — that required all commercial buildings be equipped with sprinkler systems, including offices, hotels and even open parking lot decks.
“Over the years, his work in fire prevention has paid off in dividends,” said former Oak Brook Fire Chief Jim Bodony, who now heads up the Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Company. “We can now catch fires before they turn into infernos.”
Due to Mr. Clark’s efforts, Oak Brook also became one of the first communities in the state to implement the traffic control system OptiCom, which provides a greenlight, or intersection right-of-way, to emergency vehicles. Equipped vehicles have an emitter that broadcasts a visible light or invisible infrared signal to a receiver, which is mounted on or near the traffic signal.
“He was the first to realize the importance of OptiCom for a village like ours that has so many busy intersections,” said former Oak Brook Mayor Karen Bushy, also a former village trustee and liaison to the police and fire departments. “He had the smarts to see it was a lifesaver for all drivers. He told me, ‘We’ve got to have it!’
“Some guys accomplish a lot, but they do it by steamrolling over everyone in their path,” Bushy said. “Jim’s way was to bring everybody along. He got people to work together.”
During his tenure as chief, Mr. Clark also worked with village officials to upgrade the ambulance service, resulting in better equipment and better trained paramedics.
“Jim was very charismatic,” said Bob Nielsen, a former Oak Brook fire chief and Mr. Clark’s successor. “He was comfortable in his own skin and had a way with people. He had everybody’s respect.”
Mr. Clark was born and raised on the city’s West Side and attended Washburne Trade School before serving in the Navy and Army during the Korean War. He returned home and worked for more than two decades for the Chicago Transit Authority, initially as a switchman and later as a yard foreman.
After moving to Elmhurst in 1965, he began volunteering with the Yorkfield Fire Department. Two years later, he left the CTA to join the Oak Brook Fire Department as a paid firefighter before being promoted to lieutenant and becoming the head of the department’s Fire Prevention Bureau.
“He took a big cut in pay to pursue a career in firefighting, but felt it was well worth it,” said his wife of 61 years, Ruth.
After leaving the department, Mr. Clark served for the next 21 years as president of Metro Paramedic Services in Elmhurst, a division of Superior Ambulance.
Other survivors include a son, Jeffrey; a sister, Stella Napady; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Services were held.