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player ready...Wilmette Fire Chief Mike McGreal, 52, helms a department with 44 sworn firefighters. He was sworn in as chief in November 2015. He spoke with Pioneer Press Dec. 8.
Q: How did you become interested in firefighting?
A: You could say I started when I was about three or four, because my dad was a firefighter with Chicago. I went the other way at first, and said I wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until my girlfriend, who later became my wife, decided I wasn’t going where I needed to go and cut out a couple of ads for firefighters that I got into it. I applied to Wilmette and was hired in 1988. The rest is history.
Q: What do you think people might not be aware of about the department?
A: I don’t think people know what goes on before we answer that 911 call. There are so many moving parts, like training – our guys put in thousands of hours (of) training a year per individual – equipment maintenance and more. We’re scientists, engineers, paramedics, we’re everything. When that call comes in, we can’t shrug our shoulders and say, ‘Well, we can’t do that.’ We have to help. Our guys joke, “There’s no 912, there’s just 911.”
Q: What makes you proud about the department?
A: One of the biggest is the culture we’ve developed. These guys and women take care of each other and the public. I’m also proud of our accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. We’re one of 234 accredited departments worldwide, and one of only a few in Illinois.
Q: Do you have a cause or charity you’d like people to know about?
A: One is Junior Achievement, because my wife is involved teaching business classes in underserved communities. The other is Camp I Am Me (, which is put on by the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance. It’s for children who have suffered catastrophic burns, where they can just be kids.
Q. Do you have a favorite television show?
A: I don’t know why, but I’m infatuated with (the History Channel’s) “American Pickers”.
Q: Finally, what’s the best part of the holidays for you?
A: Sharing with family, getting together with them.
Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. Check out more online at ChicagoTribune.com/ShoutOut.
–Kathy Routliffe, Pioneer Press
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Twitter: @pioneer_kathy