Sprinklers Required for Homes
 

New, single-family homes being built in unincorporated areas of Lake County that are protected by the Lake Zurich Rural Fire Protection District are required to be protected with fire sprinkler systems.

The Lake Zurich Rural Fire Protection Board recently voted unanimously to meet this National Fire Protection Association guideline, according to a department press release.

The requirement applies to new construction and not the remodeling of existing homes. The requirement became effective May 16.

Enacting the guideline is something the Fire Protection District could do only in unincorporated areas within the district. Government entities that are served by the district, including Lake Zurich, North Barrington, Deer Park, Kildeer and Hawthorn Woods, have to enact their own ordinances, said Fire Inspector John Bzdusek.

Lake Barrington is currently the only municipality in the Lake Zurich Rural Fire Protection District that requires residential sprinklers. Lake Zurich Fire Chief Terry Mastandrea said he will continue to educate the other villages and suggest similar legislation. "The facts demonstrate residential sprinklers are the best and cheapest technology available to defend our community from the tragedy of fire in a home," he stated in the press release.

"I think it's just a matter of time before that becomes a national code or requirement," Mastandrea said in a phone interview. The education is happening, it's fairly inexpensive to install sprinkler systems in new homes and the benefits are great, he noted.

Nationwide, 3,675 people died in fires in 2005, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. And 82.4 percent of all fire fatalities occurred in the home. According to the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, installing both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler system reduces the risk of death in a house fire by 82 percent.

In addition to looking at benefits of home sprinkler systems, the Fire Protection District Board also looked at the hazards presented in the Lake County zoning code's allowance for new construction on existing lots that separate homes by four to eight feet when crafting the requirement.

One example is the Forest Lake subdivision, located in between Quentin and Old McHenry roads in unincorporated Lake County. Many small, summer home-type structures are being torn down, and people are building large homes on small lots, leaving little space in between, Mastandrea said. That could help fires spread, especially on windy days, he noted. Plus, the area is not equipped with fire hydrants for firefighting purposes, and water must be tanked in, he said.

The fire district felt it was prudent to either have the zoning changed to not allow the close proximity or to have the sprinkler system requirement, he said. Ongoing zoning change discussions with the county have not been resolved, so the board implemented the sprinkler requirement.

"This is a great step on their behalf to recognize the need and potential that we have for a bad situation to happen and really taking a progressive attitude to prevent it or to minimize it," Mastandrea said.

The number of sprinklers required in each house will depend on the square footage of the home and the type of sprinkler head being used, he said. If sprinkler systems are installed during the construction of a home, they often cost no more than one to one-and-a-half percent of the total building cost, according to the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition. The coalition compares that to the cost of a carpeting upgrade.

By AMY FISHMAN Staff Writer