There has been considerable press devoted to this topic and the Observer has provided links to articles and commentary (see “Many Barrington Hills residents deserve ‘Tender’ fire protection”). Recently, the issue has been coming to a head, so we feel it is time to examine what the ramifications of this “split” might mean for our Village.
For some time now, the BCFPD has requested permission from Barrington to hire additional firefighter/paramedics and to pay their salaries out of their budget. They have also offered to pay for tender trucks (water tankers) for fire stations adjacent to the Barrington Hills Village Hall and in Lake Barrington on Pepper Road.
Per the terms of the existing intergovernmental agreement between Barrington and the BCFPD, Barrington’s Village Board has exercised their right to decline these requests citing “legacy costs” that Barrington will have to bear for future pension obligations for added staffing. It should also be noted that Barrington represents about ten percent of the total BCFPD area coverage.
On June 10, Barrington Village President Karen Darch presented Barrington’s view of the potential split with the BCFPD. During that presentation, she referred to two of four structure fires that have occurred in Barrington Hills in less than a year.
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In one slide of the presentation* (inset left), she noted that 16 area departments responded to the fire that completely devastated a home on Otis Road just east of Brinker Road last September. She also noted that 30 fire departments responded to a barn fire that occurred off Ridge Rd in October of last year. Her summation from the video recording of the meeting was, “So we have good… good response” in the district.
We beg to differ. All four of the structure fires that have occurred in our Village since September were within about two miles or less from BCFPD stations – the ones without tenders. Three of the four fires were total losses.
The Otis Rd home fire referred to in the June 10 presentation occurred 2.1 miles from the fire station at Village Hall. Due to a CN freight train, the only tender in the district which is housed in Barrington was delayed for some time. Once it did arrive and firefighters depleted the contents of the tender, the closest location to replenish the water supply was near Barrington High School. Apparently, the high-flow filling of the tender contributed to the collapse of a water main (see Water Main Breaks Near Barrington High School).
The Observer believes that the BCFPD needs to have the unfettered ability to serve the safety interests of the all of the municipalities they serve, including Barrington Hills, Inverness, Lake Barrington, North Barrington and South Barrington. The ability to purchase fire tenders for the Village and Lake Barrington locations is an absolute necessity. Anything less is unacceptable.
If it takes them splitting from Barrington for this to materialize, then the only question is how soon can this happen?
– The Observer
* A copy of the full text presentation made at the June 10 Barrington Board meeting can be downloaded here.