More fire news from FireCritic.com

Above and below is raw video from Todd Sherman of a protest yesterday (Monday) in McCook, Illinois after the layoff of eight firefighters and the outsourcing of the fire department operations to Kurtz Ambulance Service. McCook is south of Chicago.

WMAQ-TV:

Workers at the McCook Fire Department have taken to the picket lines to protest a mass layoff.

According to the Des Plaines Valley News, the nine-person fire department cost the village $1.2 million a year. McCook Mayor Jeff Tobloski told the newspaper that the village has been running on a $1.5 million deficit, and the tax base isn’t strong enough to manage the fire department’s expenses.

NBC 5 was unsuccessful in obtaining a response from Tobloski or Kurtz officials.