New homes built in the Barrington area should be required to have fire-retarding sprinkler systems, the fire chiefs of Barrington, Lake Zurich and Wauconda urged the Barrington Area Council of Governments on Tuesday night.
The chiefs said sprinklers would cost $1.15 per square foot to $1.71 per square foot of floor space and would add 1 percent to 1.5 percent to the cost of a house.
In speaking to the organization of Barrington-area village presidents, the chiefs said they hoped the communities would act together so that developers would encounter the same building requirements and not play one village against another.
Lake Barrington has a sprinkler ordinance. Barrington is scheduled to consider such an ordinance Dec. 8.
The chiefs stressed that in communities without municipal water supplies, sprinklers should be hooked up directly to wells for individual homes.
They said each well should produce enough water pressure so the sprinkler system is not dependent on a separate storage tank and emergency pump.
The pump serving a sprinkler system would be attached to the household water supply and would be tested every time the family used water.
The presentation was made by Chief David C. Danley of the Barrington Fire Protection District; Chief Dave Dato of the Wauconda Fire Department; and Chief Terry Mastrandrea of the Lake Zurich Rural Fire Protection District.
Danley, whose department serves Barrington, Barrington Hills, South Barrington, Lake Barrington and part of Inverness, has led the campaign for sprinklers.
