Fire Department Responds to Growth with New Stations

Construction is underway for a $3 million fire station designed to improve response times for an area that has more than doubled its population over the last decade.

The station, which is being built at West Algonquin and Square Barn roads, will be the fourth station for the Huntley Fire Protection District. The district covers Huntley, portions of Algonquin, Hampshire, Lake in the Hills, a section of Interstate 90 and unincorporated areas of Kane and McHenry counties.

Station No. 4 is one of three stations the district plans to add in the next 10 years. The fire department plans to open Station No. 4, which will feature a piece of steel from the World Trade Center on display in the lobby, next spring.

The Williams Architects design will be the first green fire station in McHenry County and the first green building in Algonquin. It is being paid for by money from the district's reserve funds, mostly from plan review fees and developer donations, Deputy Fire Chief Ken Caudle said.

The latest addition comes as the district moves to keep pace with a coverage area that has grown to 60,000 people, and could, at complete build-out, balloon to as many as 80,000.

"We need to grow as the population grows," Caudle said.

Farm fields have given way to residential development and the landscape of this area continues to change. The growth spurt means more demands on the department.

This year, the district expects to take around 3,500 calls, Caudle said. Since 2005, the call volume has increased by 15 percent each year.

The goal, Caudle said, is to improve response times to less than six minutes to get to at least 85 percent of the district.

"Bottom line, we want to get emergency personnel to the residents as quickly and efficiently as possible, and we need to have a presence," Caudle said.

To do that, a recent study conducted by the district and backed by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association found that two other stations will need to be built.

A fifth fire station would be constructed near Harmony and Briarhill roads–an area near both Huntley High School and Sun City Huntley, the large retirement community that accounts for a growing percentage of calls to the district.

 The sixth station would be built near the existing training facility on Coyne Station and Ernesti roads.

Both projects are expected to be finished within the next decade.