12 infected and 37 firefighters quarantined after exposure to COVID-19

Posted on November 10, 2020
Allen Reyne, the Springfield fire chief. (Photo courtesy: Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Coronavirus has hit the Springfield Fire Department.

A dozen firefighters are positive for COVID-19, including Chief Allen Reyne, who is the city’s chief COVID-19 officer.

“I kind of consider myself an umpire,” Reyne said, choosing not to second-guess Mayor Jim Langfelder for ignoring Gov. JB Pritzker’s restaurant restrictions. “In my personal conversations with the mayor, he is very concerned about the effect on our business community and the ancillary effects that shutdowns have on their livelihoods and their well-being and everything else.”

The mayor says he is allowing restaurant dining rooms to open to 25 percent of capacity, flouting the governor’s decree that the dining rooms be closed.

37 firefighters are in quarantine. Reyne says some of those people encountered someone at a birthday party who was asymptomatic, then spread it to co-workers.

The city says this will mean more overtime at the fire department but otherwise has no impact on firefighting.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

 

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