Hinsdale Fire Department Makes More Staffing Changes

The following is a release from the :

The Hinsdale Fire Department has hired a new member, firefighter/paramedic Mike Wilson, and has promoted firefighter/paramedic Mike Neville to the rank of lieutenant, and Lieutenant John Giannelli to the rank of captain.

All three were officially sworn in at Tuesday night's Board of Trustees meeting at Memorial Hall.

Short bios on the three firefighters are below.

Probationary firefighter/paramedic Mike Wilson

Mike Wilson was born and raised in Aurora. He graduated from East Aurora High School and entered the U.S. Navy, where he was an electrician for Naval Battalion 133 for four years. After the Navy, Wilson earned his Fire Fighter II certification from the Illinois State Fire Marshall’s Office and was a paid-on-call firefighter for the Aurora Township Fire Protection District for six years.

Wilson attended Southern Fox Medic School and has been an Illinois State Certified Paramedic for the past four years. He is a state-certified cold-water rescue technician and fire-apparatus engineer, and is specialty-trained in Hazmat operations. Before being hired in Hinsdale, Wilson was a contract paramedic with the Pleasantview Fire Protection District. Currently, Mike lives with his wife, Lisa, in Countryside. He is the proud father of a 7-year-old daughter named Gabriella.

Lieutenant Mike Neville

Mike Neville has been an active member of the Hinsdale Fire Department for almost 10 years. He is a CPR instructor and manages the CPR public education program, conducts the department’s annual pre-incident fire plans, and is the department’s SCBA technician. Neville recently became a fire investigator from the Illinois State Fire Marshall’s Office, and is also a member of the MABAS Division 10 fire investigation team.

Neville earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northern Illinois University and an associate’s degree in fire science from the College of DuPage. He has Fire Officer I and Fire Officer II certifications from the Illinois State Fire Marshall’s Office. Neville lives with his wife, Jane, and their two daughters, Leah and Alexa, in Sugar Grove.

Captain John Giannelli

Captain John Giannelli is one of the most decorated fire fighters in the history of the Hinsdale Fire Department. He started his career as a paid-on-call firefighter with the LaGrange Park Fire Department as a teenager, and was hired as a full-time member of the Hinsdale Fire Department in May 1991. Over the next 22 years, Giannelli earned an associate’s degree from the College of DuPage, a Bachelor of Arts degree in science management from Southern Illinois University, become a member of the MABAS Division 10 Hazmat team, and receive two unit citations for acts of valor in saving the lives of both a resident of Hinsdale and a downed Hinsdale firefighter in separate incidents. Because of his vast experience and leadership abilities, Giannelli is also the official training officer of the Hinsdale Fire Department.

He currently lives in Downers Grove with his wife, Carla, and the couple's three children, Natalie, Sam and Leah.