Fire Chief Phil Chiappetta announced his planned retirement in February and, on Oct. 15, he will pass the baton to Lt. Lindsey Hankus.
When Hankus becomes the village’s first female chief, the fire department will promote one of its staff members to the lieutenant post and hire a new firefighter. The village council approved doing so at the Sept. 9 meeting with a unanimous vote.
Those interested in filling Hankus’ soon-vacant lieutenant position are undergoing an oral and written testing process and will be ranked based on their results. Next, the Fire and Police Commission will consult the ranked list and make a recommendation on a promotion for the village council to then vote on.
Hankus said the department should have a lieutenant finalist around the end of the month. The next three firefighters on the list after the lieutenant will be promoted to acting officers.
Meet Lindsey Hankus
When she was younger, Hankus said she wanted to fight forest fires. Though she never moved somewhere where that was a possibility, she remained interested in the fire service.
Hankus attended an Emergency Medical Training school, then a paramedic training school. In the early 2000s, she worked at the Stickney Fire Department before starting as a contract paramedic in Forest Park in 2002. At the same time, she was also a lifeguard in Forest Park.
Hankus next worked as a full-time firefighter in Barrington for nine months before the village called to ask if she wanted a job at the Forest Park Fire Department.
“This was the place I wanted to work,” Hankus said. “I really loved the community. I loved the camaraderie of the department.”
She’s been with the Forest Park Fire Department since 2005. In 2021, Hankus became a lieutenant and the highest-ranking woman in the fire department’s history.
When asked why she thinks it has taken this long for such an achievement in town, Hankus chalks it up to the village hiring more women 20 or 30 years ago.
“I think we’re just catching up,” she said of female firefighters. “Now they’re getting time and experience and education in the career to be able to fulfill those leadership roles.”
“I’m hoping to get to the point where it’s not shocking to see a woman in a leadership role,” Hankus added.
Passing the baton
When Chiappetta let the village know he was retiring earlier this year, village administration sent a letter to the fire department asking that anyone interested in succeeding Chiappetta submit an application and letter of intent.
Hankus and two other firefighters did so, then interviewed with Village Administrator Rachell Entler, Commissioner of Accounts and Finance Maria Maxham — who also has jurisdiction over the fire department — and a fire chief from another municipality. They recommended Hankus to be the next fire chief.
So about three weeks ago, Hankus said she moved off her regular firefighting schedule of working for 24 hours, then having two days off. Instead, she started shadowing and training with Chiappetta.
When Hankus becomes fire chief next month, she said her goals for the department include filling in training holes while keeping in mind the village’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year — which was passed in July with a $9 million deficit.
For example, Hankus said she wants the Illinois Fire Service Institute to come teach firefighters about vehicle machinery operations and techniques used in vehicle extrication.
“With I-290 and some of the accidents we’ve seen, that would really fill some training gaps,” Hankus said.
She hopes to keep the fire department staff motivated, thinking outside the box and more involved in the community.
When she was off shift at the fire department, Hankus had a part-time job in emergency management. With this position, she taught members of a task force, local hospital staff and businesses how to respond to an active shooter and develop emergency plans in other situations.
“We need this whole community response to some of these larger events,” Hankus said. “I’m hoping that I can bring that to Forest Park and our community partners as well.”
