Three firefighters sworn onto Dixon Fire Department

DIXON — Three firefighters were added to the Dixon Fire Department’s roster Monday during a ceremony at city hall.

One by one, Levy Johnson, David Robles and Evan Munson took the oath of office from Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes. The three also had their badges pinned on them and took photos with family members and friends in Dixon City Hall’s council chambers.

Johnson and Robles were hired to fill two of the three posts added to the department in December 2022, when the council approved growing the number of positions from 17 to 20, according to Dixon Fire Chief Ryan Buskohl. Munson is filling a recently opened role, he said.

“We have the honor of bringing three new firefighters/EMTs into the fold,” Hughes said prior to swearing the three men onto the department.

Buskohl introduced each new firefighter to the standing-room-only crowd:

• Johnson was hired May 1, 2023. He previously was a volunteer firefighter with the Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District and a part-time firefighter with the Rochelle Fire Department. He has earned his EMT-Basic license and is a certified Basic Operations Firefighter. He now is undergoing paramedic training. He earned his bachelor of science degree in soil and crop science at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and is a senior medic in the United States Army Reserves 469th Engineering Co. based in Machesney Park. He will attend the firefighter academy in the fall.

• Robles also was hired May 1, 2023. A Texas native, he worked in the Nashville area as an advanced EMT before coming to Dixon. He is a certified Basic Operations Firefighter and a fall 2023 graduate of the Illinois Fire Service Institute’s fire academy and will begin paramedic training in the fall. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music, with a minor in criminal justice, from Texas State University. A veteran, he served six years with the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Airborne Infantry Regiment as a paratrooper and served in Afghanistan.

• Munson, a 2017 Dixon High School graduate, was hired Sept. 10, 2023. He graduated from the fire academy in fall 2023 and is certified as a Basic Operations Firefighter. He is an EMT-Basic and will start paramedic training in the fall.

The department soon will fill another position, pending an upcoming retirement, Buskohl said.

In January 2022, Buskohl had approached the City Council about pursuing a FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER grant, which could pay for salaries and benefits for three more firefighters for three years and increase department staff from 17 to 20. Buskohl at that time stressed the critical need to have more emergency responders to effectively serve the community.

When the city wasn’t successful in receiving the grant, Buskohl returned to the council asking for authorization to hire three new firefighters as soon as possible. The cost of the first year for added staff would be about $270,550 and $844,000 across the first three years, he said. The Dixon City Council in December 2022 approved increasing fire department staffing from 17 to 20.

[ Dixon City Council approves addition of three firefighters]

Council member Mary Oros congratulated the three during her council report Monday.

“I want to congratulate the first responders who were welcomed into our city family today,” she said. ”And to thank them for making a commitment to our community.”