Fox River Grove fire district’s in-the-works new neighbor is big but safe, village says

The partially constructed apartment complex in Fox River Grove is of a unique nature and scope that requires special attention, Fox River Grove fire officials said, which has led them to ask for more input on the project.

The Fox River Grove Fire Protection District is not normally involved in assessing whether buildings meet safety codes, but officials have asked to review safety codes and planning documents for the new seven-story building, which includes two parking garage levels partially below ground, in the works at 401 Algonquin Road.

The fire district’s involvement would be both uncommon and unnecessary, Village Administrator Derek Soderholm said.

A debate between the village of Fox River Grove and the fire agency that serves it has centered on whether sprinkler systems can compensate for narrowed road access to the building and who gets to make that call, according to a series of emails obtained by the Northwest Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Village ordinance – which adopts the 2006 edition of the International Fire Code – allows Soderholm to act as a “fire official” and make that call, but Fox River Grove Fire Marshal Gerry Schalk said in an email to village officials that the Fox River Grove Fire Protection District should be make the call.

Schalk consulted Chris Reeves, the director of architectural and engineering services with the International Code Council, on who can be designated a “fire code official.” Reeves wrote in his response that for provisions in the fire code, decisions “should be made, in my opinion, by the fire chief or duly authorized representative.”

The code Fox River Grove uses requires a certain width for access roads so that fire equipment can reach buildings. However, an exception can be made when an automatic sprinkler system is present. That’s the case with the new apartment building.

Fire Chief Robert Kreher, who has held that position for 27 years, said in an interview that he asked for an official statement by the village claiming authority to review fire codes, which he said they have not sent, as well as a copy of preliminary plans.

It is common practice within Illinois, particularly among smaller municipalities, to adopt and enforce safety codes within buildings without the fire protection districts’ input, said Fire Chief Kerry Federer, a spokesman with the Illinois Fireman’s Association, who is based in Madison County, near St. Louis.

“If we see something, we inform the local code enforcement department about it,” Federer said, “but most of the time they take care of it. They have more authority than we do. Big cities give fire departments more authority, but every place is a little bit different.”

Within McHenry County, Crystal Lake is the only municipality whose fire department is not part of a separate fire protection district.

While Kreher said the village and fire department have a strong working relationship both past and present and the two entities have never had any other disagreements during his tenure, two concerns caused the fire district to think that this is a special case. That includes the building’s size and the number of concerned calls coming being made by residents about the building to the fire district.

“I’m the guy the village comes to when they’re not happy,” Kreher said. “And it’ll just be our job to take of it after construction is done.”

Fire engines or firefighters would not be able to access the back of the current structure, which partly abuts a fence separating it from neighboring backyards, in the unlikely event the sprinkler systems failed, Kreher said.

At the May 3 Village Board meeting, Soderholm said the village plan reviewers, not the fire department, reviewed plans under the International Fire Code, although a “minor aspect” like fire alarm locations might involve the fire department later.

“Every project regardless of size or scope is reviewed within the context of the adopted codes of Fox River Grove. All codes apply to all the projects uniformly,” Soderholm said. “The code is the code. A larger project takes more time and more work to go through it, but all projects are treated equally.”

Ultimately, the Fox River Grove Fire Protection District’s goal is to make sure it is “kept in the loop,” Kreher said.

“Fire people know how to fight fires,” Schalk said. “They know their own capabilities on how to address these kinds of issues. That’s why the code was written a certain way.”

At the moment, plans for further construction on the property are currently in limbo: the developer, Grove Residences LLC, has yet to submit plans for final review and the contractor who built the foundation is now claiming they were never paid for their work.