Glenview Deputy Fire Chief Will Temporarily Lead Winnetka Fire Department

The deputy chief of Glenview Fire Department will serve as Winnetka's interim fire chief until a new chief is named, according to a resolution approved by Winnetka and Glenview village trustees Tuesday.

Glenview's Deputy Chief Ralph Ensign will assume the duties of Fire Chief Scott Smith, who retired Friday. Ensign will be retained until Jan. 31, 2011 or until a new chief is named, according to the intergovernmental agreement. The village is currently searching for a permanent replacement for Smith, the agreement says.

Though Glenview will continue to pay Ensign's salary and provide benefits, Winnetka has agreed to pay the Village of Glenview $14,688.83 per month.

For Ensign, the arrangement actually returns him to his roots.

"It's interesting. I started my career with the Winnetka Fire Department back in 1976 as an on-call firefighter," Ensign said in an interview with Patch after Tuesday's meeting in Glenview. "As I worked through my training and finally got hired full-time in Highland Park back in 1978 to start my full-time career, so it's kind of come back full circle as I go back now to help them out."

Ensign said he's familiar with the area, as a native of the North Shore region. 

"I know the community pretty well, so I think it will be a pretty easy transition for what they're looking for," Ensign said.

Ensign said he will still be working in Glenview as well and will balance his schedule accordingly.

During Winnetka's village council meeting Tuesday, Interim Village Manager Liz Rosenthal responded to a public comment from Richard Kates, who inquired why an acting chief was not chosen from within the Winnetka department. An acting deputy chief has been named, Rosenthal said.

"But we didn't feel it was really fair for him to take over the role of fire chief immediately after having him take over the role of acting deputy chief," she said.

Kerry Cummings, Village of Glenview President, said the agreement is just one example of intergovernmental cooperation.

"It's just the ultimate in municipal cooperation that's for the betterment of all the communities in the region," Cummings added. "And we're pleased that we could work out an arrangement with them to ease them through their transition and they're certainly getting a quality, top-notch person to fill that role for them. We always are cooperative with the communities around us and that's just another example of working together to solve some of our regional problems."