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| Cratty Talks About New Job With MABAS |
John Cratty is now officially retired as Galesburg's Fire Chief, and now he can begin his new job, which he says, could help expand the help fire departments get in major emergencies.
Cratty starts his new job Tuesday with the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System -- or, MABAS -- a position Cratty says is new and allows him to work out of his home at times.
Cratty tells WGIL while fire departments tend to get help from other nearby cities and counties when they need it -- much like when the O.T. Johnson Fire happened over three years ago here -- they can sometimes use help from other areas.
"My new position will be assisting MABAS in taking that mutual aid pact, and crossing state borders," Cratty said. "There already are some MABAS divisions in Iowa, in Wisconsin, in Indiana. But what my position is going to look at...is resolving issues when fire departments cross state borders."
Cratty says he thinks in many cases, cross-state mutual aid is being discouraged by things like varying traffic laws. He wants to look at those types of roadblocks, how they can be solved, and -- most importantly -- how MABAS can work with the various state legislatures in the region to get them solved.
He says that's different than, for example, when Galesburg firefighters went to Louisiana to help in the recovery following Hurricane Katrina, because of the declaration of a disaster.
Cratty says that's not necessarily the same when, say, Moline firefighters help fight a fire in Davenport.
CLICK HERE to download the entire ceremony held Friday afternoon at the Orpheum Theatre honoring retiring Galesburg Fire Chief John Cratty. (mp3 format, approximately 52 minutes) |
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| 08 31 09 by Newsroom |
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