Jessi Virtusio | Daily Herald | August 9, 2022

Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District has been celebrating the completion of a project approximately eight years in the making.

In July, Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Station 39 and an open house was planned at the station, located at 1004 S. Hough St., in Barrington.

“We actually opened April 4th. Within the first week two lives were saved because of the location of it,” Jim Kreher, Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District chief, told Pioneer Press.

“It’s going to help us so much with response and multiple responses. It helps us get to all our residents as quick as possible,” the chief said.

According to Kreher, the district serves a population of approximately 29,000 residents, as well as businesses,  in parts of North Barrington, Lake Barrington, Fox River Grove, Barrington Hills, South Barrington and Inverness and parts of unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

Station 39 is the third station for Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District, which is headquartered at Station 38, 22222 N. Pepper Road, Lake Barrington, and also has Station 37, 120 W. Algonquin Road, Barrington Hills.

“On the east side of our district, which has some more density with population, we’re going to be able to get to those calls much quicker,” said Kreher, who noted that the district receives a little more than 2,000 calls annually.

He added that Station 39, which encompasses 11,000 square feet on five acres, serves the district’s northeast and southeast areas, namely parts of Inverness, Barrington Hills, South Barrington and unincorporated Lake and Cook counties.

“Let’s say we have two calls in other parts of the district, the south station doesn’t have to come all the way across the district. We’re reloaded for other calls in the rest of the district so it helps out in a couple of ways,” Kreher said.

He explained that the cost for Station 39 – including the land – was $6 million, and the project was completed around March after breaking ground in May 2021.

“It’s money that the district has been saving over the years so we didn’t have to increase any tax dollars to build it. It was a longtime plan,” Kreher said.

Barrington School District 220 officials expressed concerns about increased traffic and noise in 2017 when Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District originally proposed a third station at 36 E. Dundee Road, Barrington, near Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus and Barrington Early Learning Center.

The Cook County Building and Zoning Committee denied the fire protection district’s special use permit request to construct a fire station at that location in 2019 so a new site had to be found within the 48-square-mile district.

“It was a blessing in disguise when we found that piece of property. We were looking for property for a long time over in that area so it worked out well,” said Kreher about where Station 39 ultimately was built after securing a special use permit from the Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals.

He said the new station is not adding to traffic or noise in the area.

“Our vehicles leave there maybe five or six times a day. They’re out training or whatever but they also go on calls so it hasn’t increased any traffic. Traffic was already busy due to the railroad,” Kreher said.

“We don’t blow our sirens until we get on Barrington Road. Even when we were driving from our other stations before we built this station, it’s the same amount of noise. I drive that way, too, to get to the hospital in Hoffman Estates,” the chief said.

Ascension Saint Alexius in Hoffman Estates is an approximately 15-minute drive from Station 39.

“We’re so happy that we were able to build it and it really does help us serve our residents in a more efficient manner. Really, the bottom line is we’re here to serve our residents and our neighboring communities,” Kreher said.

According to Kreher, four of the  47 BCFPD employees will work at Station 39.

“It’s really a basic fire station but there’s enough bedrooms for six people to be there if we ever had to expand. It [has] two drive-through bays, a kitchen, a dayroom, an exercise room, a conference room and a couple of offices,” Kreher said.

The district worked with companies including Ringwood-based J. Condon & Associates Inc. on engineering, Chicago-based Studio 222 Architects and Pepper Construction of Barrington on Station 39.

“Our board had the vision, and the admin staff and I were able to do this with their vision. So they should be applauded for wanting to do this for the residents,” Kreher said.

The district’s board consists of trustees Keith Hanson, Marvin Hill, Matt Hower, Dr. Thomas Long and newcomer S. Allison Murray. She became the first woman on the board with her appointment in July.

Kreher also credited Rich Curran, longtime Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District attorney, with doing a lot of work on the Station 39 project.