By Andrea Zelinski – The Times

With 80 percent of fatal fires happening at home, a new law is giving homeowners another reason to install an in-home sprinkler system.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a bill this week that enables fire protection districts to award cash to homeowners opting to add a residential sprinkler system in their home. But some fire district officials say there is no money for such grants.

“In most districts, it will be a very small amount of money,” said Charles Vaughn, a lobbyist for the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts. “But it’s going to be a reflection of what we will see in savings.”

With safer homes come fewer major fires, less manpower and lower costs to run the local fire department, Vaughn said.

Last year, 9,044 fires ravaged Illinois homes.

Sprinkler systems typically take 30 to 90 seconds to detect a fire before dousing it, he said. Sprinklers don’t necessarily extinguish the entire fire, but rather keep the blaze at bay, according to Deputy Fire Chief Jim Keener of the Bourbonnais Fire District.

“The sprinkler systems are designed to hold the fire in check until we get there,” Keener said.

Bourbonnais Fire District trustees don’t know how they would pay for the grants, Keener said, though they might try to lobby local lawmakers for financial support.

“Later down the line, maybe the state could provide a little bit of funds,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, who hopes fire districts can find local money to cover at least two-thirds of the homeowner’s cost. “Some districts would be more financially able to do it than others.”

Not all fire departments belong to a fire protection district. There are 850 districts throughout the state that could, with funding, offer the grant. Many of those districts are located in rural areas of Illinois, according to Vaughn.

Applicants would have to contact their local fire protection district to apply.

Prior article: Illinois Sprinkler Incentive Bill Awaits Governor’s Signature

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