AMBOY – The Amboy Fire Protection District usually has an event going on or they’re drafting plans for the next one.

March and April are no different as Amboy Fire Chief Jeff Bryant Sr. and his crew are teaching and attending classes and drawing down.

March 25

Battery Extrication Class

Slowly but surely vehicles in the United States of America are becoming more battery operated.

Bryant Sr. sees the change and wants his unit and others to be ready for any mishaps.

“More and more cars are coming out with a battery for a power source,” Bryant Sr. said. “We have 102 people from four different states signed up for our class.

“We’re trying to catch the learning curve for these new cars that are coming out. It’s interesting.”

April 1

Amboy Fire Protection District Draw Down

COVID-19 has spoiled drawdowns since 2020.

Not this year.

“We want to make this an annual event. We had our very first drawdown in 2019 and then we hit the rails because of COVID-19,” Bryant Sr. said. “We’re back on. We still have tickets available. It’s a meal and an opportunity to win up to $4,000 cash. There will be some silent auction items available also. The funding from this event will go to purchasing equipment and to help provide funding for training.”

For tickets for the drawdown starting at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 1, contact the fire station at 815-857-2325.

April 15

Blackhawk Firefighters Association Fire School

Every year Amboy hosts a school for a mass number of firefighters from Amboy, surrounding communities, Illinois, and out of state.

“We anticipate somewhere between 200-400 firefighters,” said Bryant Sr., who added the class has happened annually for the last 25 years. “Every year it fluctuates with how many firefighters attend. We don’t know for sure. There could be anywhere from 30-80 fire departments represented based on the year.”

This year’s school will be 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and will include classes teaching different disciplines such as leadership, EMS, fire safety, prevention, and policies, and auto extrication.