each took the oath of office after being promoted
to the rank of lieutenant with the Homewood
Fire Department. (Photo by Quincy Crump/
H-F Chronicle)
The Homewood village board approved the promotion of three firefighters at its June 27 meeting.
John Elashik, Tom Gaskin and Larry Lipinski took the oath as new lieutenants in the department.
Gaskin has been a firefighter and paramedic for 18 years, Chief Bob Grabowski said. He’s trained in emergency medical services, auto extrication, structural fire fighting and tactical rescue. Grabowski said Gaskin helped establish the respiratory equipment cash-in program, coordinated inspection testing and maintenance of breathing air compressor systems and the department’s inventory for self-contained breathing apparatus.
Lipinski joined the Homewood department as a cadet in 1979 when he was just 16. He worked in insurance from 1986 to 1991 before being hired by the Oak Forest Fire Department. He quickly came back to Homewood.
Elashik became a cadet for Homewood fire in 1994 and is a third-generation firefighter, Grabowski said. He was a paid-on-call firefighter until 2001, when he was hired by the fire department in Lexington, Kentucky. He returned to Homewood in 2004.
Elashik, one of Homewood’s two fire investigators, received the Illinois Firefighter Medal of Valor after a 2008 fire.
All three are state-certified fire officers and paramedics.
Lipinski and Gaskin were approved by the police and fire commission April 20. Elashik was approved June 21.
In other business, new public works employees Eric Fritz and Kurt Ginder took the oath of office. They were officially hired as maintenance workers in the street division on June 19.
A portion of the Homewood Science Center budget was amended. The original budget earmarked $41,600 for salary for a full-time position. That position is now being filled by a contractor; the change allows the budget to reflect that.
Before the meeting, a public hearing was held for a bond issue. The village will issue bonds for up to $1.9 million to pay for several projects including a new fire engine, accounting software, improvements to the Science Center and some smaller items.