St. Charles fire to detail referendum request

Homeowners served by the St. Charles Countryside Fire Protection District can find out exactly how much they must pay for better fire and ambulance response times Jan. 12.

The district will host a special meeting at 7 p.m. that night at Century Station in St. Charles. Trustees are expected to put a dollar amount on the promise they already made to put a tax increase question on the April ballot.

Whatever the amount is, the tax increase is designed to build at least one new fire house. The new house would cut average response times from the current of about nine minutes down to about six minutes, officials said. Any response time approaching 10 minutes or longer can see a total loss of property in a flash fire or the loss of the "platinum 10 minutes" that are critical for preserving life in a heart attack or severe trauma.

The district serves about 600 homes within a 34-square-mile section of unincorporated St. Charles, Elgin, South Elgin, Bartlett, West Chicago, Elburn and Campton Hills. Only residents within the district would be impacted by the tax increase if it is approved by the voters. A recent survey showed about 90 percent of the homeowners in the district believe the current response times are too long.