Steve DeJong, the deputy fire chief of the Homewood Fire Department, has announced his retirement from the department after more than two decades. He will instead join MABAS Illinois, a statewide mutual aid and disaster response coordinator. Dejong was part of a task force that responded to Hurricane Ian when he was hired by the department in 2000. He was deployed to Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005, and Iraq from 2007 to 2009. His tenure led to significant changes in firefighting training and procedure across southern Cook County, including the construction of the Brian Carey Training Center in HomewOOD.