In recent weeks The Observer has published sad news about two devastating structure fires in our Village. A residence on Otis Road was burned to the foundation on September 24, and not long after, a barn was destroyed by fire on Ridge Road.
We’ve also published articles concerning to the ongoing dispute between the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District (BCFPD), which protects a major portion of our Village, and the Village of Barrington. Part of their disagreement centers around BCFPD’s desire to purchase more equipment, specifically a new “tender” truck that can transport thousands of gallons of water to the scene of a fire. This dispute is their business, but we have our own concerns for our Village.
Many know that BCFPD operates three manned fire station locations in Barrington on Route 14, in Barrington Hills on Algonquin Road next to Village Hall and in Lake Barrington on Pepper Road. What many do not know is that BCFPD currently has only one aging tender truck to supply water to firefighters, and it is garaged in the Barrington location which ironically is surrounded by hundreds of accessible fire hydrants.
The reason for the location of this tender truck is not clear, but the fact remains that in order for this equipment to get to a Barrington Hills fire, downtown Barrington traffic and two possibly blocked rail lines must be dealt with in certain situations. Further adding to our concern is the fact that a fire hydrant is required in order to replenish the water in the tank – a procedure that must take place many times during in a major fire. In the case of the Otis Road blaze, the closest hydrant was located at Barrington High School.
The Observer is fully cognizant of the fact that government entities such as BCFPD and our Village government operate as separate taxing bodies making their own decisions. We also know that fires the scale we’ve had recently will always require multiple fire district responses from many surrounding towns. Nonetheless, the situation we’ve described is unacceptable in our opinion and our elected officials should have addressed this years ago and should have lobbied on the behalf of their residents.
Perhaps now that more readers are aware, the Village will finally take some proactive measures to get the BCFPD firefighters what they need to do their jobs more effectively starting with tender trucks at the Barrington Hills and Lake Barrington fire stations.
– The Observer
As a new resident of Barrington Hills, I must say that I am shocked by the fact that fire protection is an issue in this well off community. This is one of the main tasks that government officials have to take care of for their residents. Are we going to wait until a deadly tragedy to address the lack of appropriate fire protection? ACT now for the sake of Barrington Hills residents.
Thank you Observer – who knew of this issue? Certainly not the residents. Perhaps our present Administration should focus on an issue such as this… Just a thought, but would the amount our village has spent in attorney fees for the LeCompte fiasco be enough to purchase our own water truck?
Abboud should have demanded a tanker truck from Canadian National when they were negotiating with their checkbook open. Instead he gave away the store!
Is it too late to go back to Canadian National? What do you mean Abboud negotiated with Canadian National, what did BH get in return?
The question should be……Did he get a personal stipend from Canadian National or possibly a campaign donation?
In January of 2009, on a bitter cold night, our home on Brinker was destroyed by fire. We live less then ½ mile from the BH Fire Department house located on Algonquin and Brinker. The first fire responder arrived in a SUV from Barrington Countryside. The first fire truck capable of responding arrived about 20 minutes after the 911 call. The first fire truck with capability to control or eliminate the fire arrived from Lake Zurich, approximately 10 miles from our location. The second fire truck that responded came from Carpentersville and their Chief coordinated the fire departments’ response. In all, several fire trucks from various districts arrived, but we do not know when the first Countryside truck arrived.
Our fire departments are excellent and these brave men risked harm to save as much as possible and we are grateful for their service. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, the BH fire responders were at the scene of a location on Northwest Highway in the town of Barrington investigating a smoke alarm at a commercial property and were unable to return to our fire in a timely manner. The Countryside Fire Department recognized the situation was unusual and reviewed the logistics with us. Based on this recognition that the procedures in place were likely flawed and the subsequent changes made to improve them; our Village is safer after our unfortunate incident. We found BCFD cooperative and they directly discussed the details with us professionally and without excuse.
However, the Village of Barrington Hills government, despite bringing this to their attention, NEVER investigated the situation nor did they contact us to learn what happened in order to better work with the Fire Department to support our community. This is a serious issue. Why was the first fire truck to arrive at the scene from Lake Zurich? Why was the response time so long? Why would a truck in BH travel to the opposite side of the Canadian Pacific tracks and risk delays for a response? Do we have appropriate equipment to properly respond? Why didn’t our Village President Abboud or Trustee Gohl in charge of public safety investigate this seriously or discuss findings with the harmed resident?
A reply from Nick and Nora to the Observer’s article begs a valid question. Why does the Village spend the high per capita amount on legal fees on horse boarding issues when the Village is not properly protected for fire safety? We hear nothing about fire needs in our Village, yet recent situations call to question our capability in BH. While our home was destroyed, fortunately, no one was hurt. Nevertheless, this resident finds unforgivable the blatant disregard of the President and the Trustees involved in public safety for not investigating and learning from our incident what went wrong in order to be better prepared in the future. Public safety is a priority for our Village that our current administration has not taken seriously.
The Village of Barrington Hills leadership, specifically Bob Abboud, demonstrated the priorities of their special interest favoritism over public safety in August of 2010. Joe Evans was a neighbor of all of us. Mr. Evans passed away earlier this year after a 6 month fight with cancer. For the 3 years previous to his passing, Mr. Evans fought a different battle, against BH Village corruption.
Some of you may recall reading about a dispute of neighbors over the easement he used as the only access to his home. The Observer brings attention to public safety issues with adequate fire department capability, but does not expose how our own Village government disregards public safety in favor of the interests of special friends.
Mr. Evans’ “green sign” access for fire department and emergency service response was over this easement and in place for some 80 years. A neighbor wanting to expand his grazing space by approximately 1/3rd of an acre across from this easement chose to tear up Evans’ drive. Police on at least two occasions had told Mr. Evans that they would not allow this to happen. The Barrington Countryside Fire Department inspected the property and advised the BH Village police chief and in writing informed the Village through attorneys that they would be unable to access Mr. Evans’ home and protect his daughters without adding response time delay in order to plow through a fence that the neighbor had constructed over the easement and embedded in concrete. Shockingly, the Village allowed the road to be destroyed and Mr. Evans and his family to be placed in harm’s way.
A dispute over the legality of the easement was ongoing. But the Village chose to favor a neighbor seeking added grazing space for a property planning commercial operations over the safety of a resident. The position of concern was clearly and concisely stated by the Barrington Countryside Fire Department that Mr. Evans’ safety was compromised. Why did our Village President disregard the safety of a resident over the grazing needs of another? Oddly, the same resident in dispute with Mr. Evans contributed $30,000 to the Save5Acres campaign whose actions have been known to favor commercial boarding operations that this neighbor desired.
The Observer questions the issues relating to public fire safety based on recent situations. Friends of Mr. Evans question the integrity and leadership of our Village President, Trustees, police department and Village attorney that will too easily trade public safety of a neighbor and his young children for the benefit of special interests.
Question! Is there any area under the auspice of this administration that is NOT under scrutiny with reference to questionable allegiance to special interest group(s)? If so could someone please point this out to me.
It’s time for “Change you can Believe In”…..Hopefully we can support some new candidates to help our tiny little village move into the light of open and honest village government during this next election cycle.