Recognizing Fire Chief Joseph M. Cluchey for His Service and Retirement

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker pro tempore, I rise today to recognize Fire Chief Joseph M. Cluchey on his over 42 years of service to the Illinois fire community as he begins his well-deserved retirement.

Mr. Cluchey began as an on-call firefighter in the South Elgin Fire Department and worked as a contract paramedic in the St. Charles Fire Department in 1981 before becoming a career firefighter. He worked hard and made his way up the ranks to become fire chief for the South Elgin and Countryside Fire Protection District. He valiantly served in this capacity for 12 years before suffering an injury from a roof collapse, which caused him to retire from South Elgin in 2014.

After his retirement from South Elgin, he took on a leadership role as the statewide operations chief for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. In that capacity, Chief Cluchey served countless communities statewide through the organization's non-discriminatory mutual aid response system for fire, EMS, and specialized incident operational teams.

In November of 2016, after a nationwide search Mr. Joseph M. Cluchey was sworn in as Fire Chief of the Elburn & Countryside Fire Protection District. The district currently operates out of three stations which serve all or portions of ten communities including 2 large subdivisions located in the 11th Congressional district of Illinois.

Mr. Speaker Pro Tempore, I am proud to represent the community of Elburn, Illinois and I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Fire Chief Joseph M. Cluchey for his over 42 years of dedication and fire service to the community and wish him a happy retirement.

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