For more than eight years, Peter Siebert has led Lake Forest’s Fire Department guiding the personnel as they fought fires and provided paramedic service.
However, that run is about to come to an end as Siebert is now in his last few weeks on the job as he plans to retire on Jan. 3.
“It was time and I have done everything I wanted to do. When you get to a certain age and time, it doesn’t matter when you go,” Siebert, 58, said. “It is time for me to move on and I want other people to step up and have new blood in there with new ideas to move the place forward.”
On Dec. 2, the City Council approved the appointment of Deputy Chief Andrew Rick as Siebert’s successor. He is set to be sworn in on Jan. 6.
“I really look forward to the opportunity of leading a young group and continue to serve this community in the way we have been and uphold the standards that we (have),” Rick told the City Council. “I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.”
Mayor Stanford “Randy” Tack offered plaudits for Siebert and the entire 35-employee department at the meeting.
“Our fire department stands as a shining example of service and readiness and we are incredibly fortunate to have such an exceptional team safeguarding our community,” Tack said.
In an interview, Siebert reflected on what he has seen and done in his public service.
Born in Northbrook, Siebert was living in California in the 1990s when he became interested in firefighting as a career. He asked a local fire chief about how to chart that career path and was informed about the higher education requirements associated with the position.
As he earned the degrees, Siebert moved back to the area. Initially, he was hired as a paid on-call firefighter at the Countryside Fire Department in Vernon Hills in December 1994, before moving over to Lake Forest in May 1996. He steadily received a series of promotions until being named acting chief in September 2016 and permanent chief in April 2017.
He ticked off some memorable experiences such as fighting a December 2005 fire of a house under construction on Briar Lane.
“I remember coming in over the Tri-Sate Tollway and seeing the glow at 3 in the morning,” Siebert said.
He added the firehose bed cover on the top of the first engine reporting to the scene almost burned off from the embers landing on it.
Then there was the December 2009 fire that severely damaged the house of former Mayor Frank Farwell on a private stretch off of Waukegan Road. All the responding personnel had to lay down roughly 1000 feet of firehose to extinguish it, as there weren’t any hydrants close by. The effort was hampered as the fire engine skidded into a ditch due to the icy and snowy conditions.
Reminiscing about his time as chief, Siebert is proud the city modernized equipment and replaced aging vehicles, even if sometimes took repeated requests from city officials.
“I was pretty persistent about things and I think I got a lot of things done,” he said.
He specifically points to the acquisition of a rescue boat, that was used during the search for a resident who fell into Lake Michigan in October. (The body was later recovered in Michigan.)
“It has paid off well and it can get out in any condition,” he said. “That boat goes through anything.”
A major change in responsibility for the department officially started in 2018 when the Rockland Fire Protection District stopped using the volunteer force of the Knollwood Fire Department the protect the unincorporated area. The RFPD leadership entered into an outsourcing agreement with Lake Forest to provide services on one part of the area, Libertyville on the other.
The issue was controversial at the time, but Siebert believes it has worked out well.
“I think we came up with a good idea,” he said.
He concedes there have been some mistakes at the administrative level along the way.
“Those are some who learn the most out of,” he said. “You pick yourself up and find another way to go at it.”
Siebert also noted the evolution of the modern fire department, pointing to technological advances. When he started in the ’90s, there was one computer in the station that kept all the calls in a logbook with a pen and paper. Now he said every single desk and rig has a computer in it and iPads are commonplace features.
He added the department’s medical protocol book has nearly doubled in length since he started in the 1990s.
“To be both a firefighter and a paramedic, it takes a lot and a special person to do it. We’ve been lucky to have really good people,” he said,
Siebert said he stayed on along a little longer to assist Rick, who was promoted to deputy chief in September 2023, to get acclimated and fully supports his promotion.
“He has done nothing but succeed at everything we have tasked him with at every level,” Siebert said. “He is a younger guy but he has some good experience and I think he will be a breath of fresh air for the department and do a great job of putting a new spin on things.”
As for his own future, Siebert said he and his wife have purchased a house in central Tennessee and they plan to move there next year with the first priority of getting settled.
After that, he is not certain.
“I’ll find what I want to do,” he said. “I have worked my whole life and haven’t had that much time off except for a week’s vacation here and there. My plan is to take some time off and enjoy life and figure out what I want to do if I want to do anything.”
Siebert will leave with praise from the community including City Manager Jason Wicha.
“Chief Siebert has been instrumental in elevating training programs, establishing exceptional service standards, and always going above and beyond to serve our residents,” Wicha wrote in an e-mail. “His leadership and dedication have left a lasting impact on the Lake Forest Fire Department, our organization, and the community.”
Siebert’s retirement marks another change in local public safety leadership as Karl Walldorf retired as police chief earlier this year. Up north in Lake Bluff, David Graf stepped down as that department’s chief last month.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
