In a little over a week from now, an Illinois fire department will be out of service.
Dixmoor Fire Department will be closed as of Dec. 1.
Village officials, who said it was costing too much to fund the fire department, didn't allow public comment before taking the vote, according to the Southtown Star.
Mayor Dorothy Armstrong said the fire department and its 20 firefighters were costing the village $773,000 a year, a third to its budget, reporters noted.
Six of the 12 full-time firefighters had been laid off earlier as a cost-saving measure.
A firefighter told the reporter that Dixmoor is planning to have the Harvey Fire Department provide fire protection for the village and to pay a private ambulance service to provide paramedics.
But, the mayor said the Harvey city council doesn't meet until Dec. 9. “...I don’t know what Dixmoor is going to do after Nov. 30, the last effective date our guys will be working,: she told the newspaper.
Dixmoor is one of the smallest and poorest suburbs in the Chicago area, with a population of 3,644, according to the 2010 census.
