A safer fire service is the mission of Dinges Fire Co.

AMBOY – Nick Dinges has grown Dinges Fire Co. into a major player in the fire service industry while remaining local in Amboy.

As a firefighter, Dinges jumped at the opportunity to be part of creating and distributing fire safety equipment.

“It really interested me that I could be part of making a better and safer fire district for generations to come,” he said.

“Without family, I wouldn’t be able to have this business. That kind of support was very important when growing a business almost out of thin air.”

—  Nick Dinges, Dinges Fire Co. chief executive officer

Dinges began his career in August 1997 as an emergency medical technician and firefighter while attending Western Illinois University. He started as a second lieutenant EMT with WIU’s emergency medical service. In August 1998, he began as a live-in student firefighter and EMT at the Macomb Fire Department.

In 2001, he graduated from WIU with a bachelor’s degree in finance and moved on to the Rockford Fire Department, serving as a firefighter and paramedic.

At about the same time, Jeff Bryant Sr. and Lonny Eisenberg came up with what would become the Dinges Fire Co.

“It was the brainchild of Lonny and Jeff. They started the business to serve the rural community,” Nick Dinges said.

Bryant, Lonny Eisenberg, Lane Eisenberg and Shauna Dinges founded E&B Fire and Safety Inc. in 2001. Six months after its creation, Nick came on as a partner with the firm.

The business began in a house along U.S. Route 52 in Amboy. Within a year, the company started to grow, moved into a small office in town and began doing business as the Illinois Fire Store. After that, IFS remodeled the old Dickinson’s Hardware Store at 243 E. Main St. in downtown Amboy and moved its headquarters there.

In 2011, Nick bought out his partners at IFS and restructured the company for growth. As the new owner and CEO, Dinges Fire Co. was born. For the next six years, Nick’s sole focus was on making the company profitable. He credited the support he got from his family as a key component of the company’s future success.

“Without family, I wouldn’t be able to have this business. That kind of support was very important when growing a business almost out of thin air,” Nick said.

In 2017, Dinges Fire Co. acquired Time Emergency Equipment in Michigan and Safety First in Wisconsin. At the same time, it began developing its own product lines such as Leatherhead Metals and Vanguard Safety Wear.

“[As a firefighter] still living it and being active today with the experiences I’ve had, I can apply that to learning the products we sell and new products,” Nick said.

Leatherhead Metals was created in January 2017 to address the need for a more durable helmet shield that can withstand high-heat environments.

In April 2017, Nick, Andy Shapiro and Ryan Pennington founded Vanguard Safety Wear. Combining Pennington and Nick’s years of experience as firefighters with Shapiro’s experience in the textile and apparel industry, they engineered three new fire gloves that still are sold by the company.

In 2022, Dinges Fire Co. acquired Fox Apparatus Repair & Maintenance in Iowa. These acquisitions grew the company’s footprint to four states in the Midwest and doubled the size of its team to almost 30. Then, in 2023, the company expanded into North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, and added more than 100 independent sales professionals serving Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Dinges Fire Co. has grown to more than 140 team members across the Midwest.

“The neatest thing is doing it in Amboy and not in a larger city. ... Our business runs on a lot of handshakes and just those rural principles that we’ve applied to the way we do business,” Nick said.

Despite the company’s rapid growth, its headquarters remains at 243 E. Main St. in downtown Amboy and it continues to serve local fire departments.

“We’re trying to provide the best training and education we have to make sure all the local fire departments stay equipped with the newest technology to keep them as safe as possible, especially with our families and ourselves as active members [in the fire departments],” Nick said.

Bryant, chief relations officer, serves as fire chief at the Amboy Fire Department. He has almost 26 years of service.

Brian Block, the new Minnesota and North Dakota sales manager, is the chief of Danube Fire Department in Minnesota and has been serving in that role for the past nine years.

Nick Dinges remains active as the assistant fire chief at the Sublette Fire Department and has 27 years of service as a firefighter and a paramedic.

Like his business, his family is made up of firefighters. It began with his grandfather, now retired, who remains involved at the Sublette Fire Department as a trustee. Besides Nick and his grandfather, there are 11 other firefighters in his family. They have more than 300 years of service combined.

Looking to the road ahead, Nick said he plans to continue to grow Dinges Fire Co. by investing in the human capital within the Sauk Valley. With the support of his family and the local community, he believes he can grow the company into one of the top five players in the U.S.