Child Vandals Do $100,000 in Damage to Ill. Vols' Station

The Daily Southtown, Tinley Park, Ill.

Four young boys broke into the Homewood Acres (Illinois) Volunteer Fire Department headquarters and destroyed the facility's interior, authorities said.

The vandals used hammers to smash porcelain toilets and punch holes in walls, doors and ceilings. They ripped doors off kitchen cabinets and sprayed ketchup, mustard and other condiments all over walls of the station at 3860 183rd St., just east of Pulaski Road in unincorporated Bremen Township.

They stole about $160 from a petty cash jar. They ate what they wanted and what food they didn't eat, they spread throughout the firehouse. They left behind a heartbreaking scene of senseless destruction.

"When I saw all the condiments, and the height of the holes in the walls, I thought, These are kids," fire Chief Bryan Rouson said. "We got it all on video. We got them outside, inside, everything. They tried breaking cameras. It wasn't until they tore everything out of the wall that the DVR stopped recording."

Videos showed the incident began shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday during the long Memorial Day weekend. The boys used rocks and bricks to break windows from the outside. One of the boys climbed through a kitchen window and opened the front door for the others, Rouson said. The boys left the building shortly before 1 p.m.

The damage went undiscovered until Monday, when one of the volunteer firefighters who also works for a private ambulance service visited the station, Rouson said.

"Whenever they're staged in the area they'll use the restroom or make something to eat," Rouson said. "They stopped by and saw the window in the front door was broken. They saw the damage and called the sheriff."

Sheriff's police and evidence technicians arrived and investigated.

"They came out and said there was $100,000 in damage," Rouson said.

Cook County Sheriff's Police described the extent of damage in a statement.

"Upon arrival officers observed damage in every room with broken toilets, windows, TVs, computers, and cabinets," police said. "No offenders were located inside at the time. Security cameras captured images of four white juveniles smashing the walls with hammers and causing extensive property damage on Saturday, May 28 between the hours of 8:14 a.m. and 12:45 p.m."

The investigation was ongoing as of Thursday afternoon, police said.

The offenders tipped over appliances and furniture and dragged items into other rooms. A natural gas line serving an appliance was damaged, Rouson said.

"We determined the gas leak wasn't too bad," he said. "They broke all the windows."

Rouson was waiting for an insurance adjuster to arrive and assess the damage so the fire department could conduct a full inventory of items. Late Wednesday, Rouson was concerned about the whereabouts of an automated external defibrillator, or AED device that uses electricity to restart hearts.

"There was a lot of expensive stuff they could have taken," Rouson said. "My only fear is we're missing an AED right now. It could be somewhere else in the building for all we know."

Floors were still buried under mountains of debris and food mess when I visited late Wednesday. Desks and countertops were overturned. It looked like a tornado tore through the station.

The damaged training area, kitchen, living room, radio room, bathrooms and offices are in a 2017 addition located behind the firehouse where two fire engines are housed. Uniforms, breathing apparatus and other gear were kept safely in the garage, which was not entered, Rouson said.

Volunteers founded the department March 9, 1945. Rouson said he has volunteered with the department for 46 of its 77 years. Hazel Crest, Country Club Hills and other communities have absorbed much of the area previously covered by the volunteer department, which does not have an ambulance or offer paramedic services.

Today, Homewood Acres Volunteer Fire Department serves fewer than 2,000 people in about 500 homes and businesses in an area of about 2.5 square miles, Rouson said.

"There are 12 active volunteer firefighters," he said. "We've had as many as 32. We lost some due to COVID."

The 2017 addition was dedicated two years ago upon the department's 75th anniversary, he said.

"We were just finishing it," Rouson said. "Four kids in four hours destroyed it."

Chicago TV stations reported about the vandalism, and people shared the news on social media. The incident generated thousands of reactions from readers and viewers, with many questioning the motives and potential consequences for the vandals.

One woman said once the kids responsible are identified, they should clean the mess and their parents should be fined.

"Make them do volunteer work for one year, cleaning up burned homes and buildings," she wrote.

The male juveniles were between 9 and 14 years old, Rouson said.

The holes in the walls and other damage can be repaired.

"Hopefully insurance will cover most of it," Rouson said.

Some old pictures and other memorabilia, however, are irreplaceable and might be damaged beyond repair. There was a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol as the request of then-U. S. Sen. Mark Kirk and presented to the department in 2012.

The department's own flag was badly soiled. It bears the motto, "Trained in tradition, paid in pride."

Community members have contributed to a GoFundMe account. As of Thursday afternoon, donors had given more than $8,500 toward a $10,000 goal.

"It's clearly upsetting a lot of people," Rouson said. "We just had a resident come up here and gave us a $500 check."