Dixmoor Closes Fire Department

(CBS) -- That's all she wrote for the Dixmoor Fire Department. WBBM's Veronica Carter reports bagpipes were played Sunday morning when the overnight shift got off duty and the firehouse closed its doors.

The Southtown Star reports Village officials say it was costing too much to run it, and they'll use fire fighters in surrounding fire departments, though no specific agreement has been reached yet.

Justin Hamilton is an EMT and a firefighter and says mutual aid agreements are great but they can cut down response time to an emergency.

"It can increase anywhere between 10, 15 maybe even 20 minutes now. As an experienced EMT, that can mean life or death depending on the situation," said Hamilton.

Six of the 12 firefighters in Dixmoor had already been laid off in a cost cutting move.

Dixmoor Mayor Dorothy Armstrong couldn't be reached for comment