Northbrook Fire Department Deputy Chief Stepping Down

On June 11, Bob Brogan, 55, announced to the Village of Northbrook that he will be stepping down from his position as Deputy Chief of Operations at the Northbrook Fire Department.

Brogan joined the department as a firefighter/paramedic 30 years ago, he was 25. His golden badge, pinned above his heart, displays four bugles — a symbol of his rank. The Fire Chief is the only person in the department whose badge has five. 

Brogan will leave the department on Friday, Aug. 3. Afterwards, he will serve as the Deputy Chief of Operations at the Rutland-Dundee Township Fire Protection District, protecting his home town of Sleepy Hollow and neighboring Gilberts. 

Brogan sat down with Patch to discuss his experiences on the job and his fondness for Northbrook. 

Patch: Have you ever saved someone’s life?

Brogan: Numerous times I was involved in a team that the result was that there was a life saved, but that’s pretty much up to God. Both on and off the job I’ve been in situations that were pretty meaningful and I feel blessed to be part of it, but I don’t want to take credit for saving someone’s life. There’s the other side of that, when things don’t work out that’s a lot of stress to carry. Especially if it’s a kid, and I’ve been on both sides of the kid deal, where the child made it and the child hasn’t made it. So if you can’t get rid of that burden somehow over a period of time, that can be pretty heavy, so I choose to let it be a God thing, but that’s my own personal way of doing it.

Patch: What does it take to be a successful firefighter in Northbrook?

Brogan: Truthfulness, caring, love, dedication, and that wouldn’t just be Northbrook. I would want that to be the template for all firefighters. You have to have compassion, you need to put others first, you need to serve, and if you’re a boss, in my opinion, you need to serve the servants. I need to make sure that the guys that are out there serving — their needs are met so they can do a good job. It just makes for a better team, then they know that the boss cares and that means a lot. It shows in the guys, you can see it in their eyes, when things get tough they know where your heart’s at.

Patch: What are you going to miss about the job?

Brogan: Oh wow that’s easy, definitely the people. I grew up here, in the big picture of life. Twenty-five to 55, a lot goes on. And it won’t just be the fire department. Public works, police, general government. The village is pretty blessed to have the people they have. And in the big picture, there’s a high majority of people that are just good people, that get it. I’ve been fortunate to have that influence me, to be a better guy, to work harder. It makes it a lot easier when you got a storm coming through and you all got the same mission, but you have all these different tasks. People are people, it’s hard to replace that. These people took good care of us and I hope I gave back what I took.