Libertyville and Lake Forest will absorb the Knollwood fire department and begin providing services within its jurisdiction Oct. 1.
Situated between Shields and Libertyville townships, Knollwood is a 50-member all volunteer department serving an area of less than 1 square mile. It includes 668 homes, about 1,800 residents and responds to about 535 emergency calls annually. For the past two years, the three-person Rockland Fire Protection District board, which is the fire department's governing and taxing body, has discussed other ways of providing service with neighboring departments.
"Basically, the Rockland Fire Protection District will become a paper district and they'll contract their services with Libertyville and Lake Forest," which will split the area geographically, according to Libertyville Fire Chief Rich Carani.
Nothing will change in terms of manpower or equipment for Libertyville, he added, but Lake Forest will be interviewing Knollwood firefighters for paid on premises positions.