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Fire Prevention Bureau

  Fire Chief's Residential Fire Sprinkler Letter
  Homewowners Guide to Residential Sprinklers and Maintenance
  Homeowners Sprinkler Maintenance Guide
  Homeowners Fire Sprinker System Self-Inspection Report
  Wheeling Fire Department Sprinklers Overview
  Know Your Fire Sprinker System Pamphlet

Change Your Clock - Change Your Batteries
The Fire Prevention Bureau is responsible for inspecting commercial and industrial occupancies for compliance with the Village's fire prevention codes.  Each occupancy is formally inspected approximately once every two years.

By ordinance, the "2003 International Fire Code" with local amendments is adopted as the standard for the Village of Wheeling. These local amendments can be found in Title 14 - Fire, of the Wheeling Municipal Code.

Under a special agreement with the local school districts, each school within the community is inspected bi-annually.  All licensed day cares and pre-schools are also inspected annually.  Routine fire drills are monitored by Fire Department personnel to insure that proper evacuation techniques are utilized.

In addition to fire prevention inspections, the Fire Prevention Bureau is responsible for reviewing and monitoring various life safety and fire detection/suppression related items associated with new construction.  These include, but are not limited to: fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, emergency lighting, exiting requirements, fire hydrant placement, and fire department access to the site.

Fire sprinkler systems are required in all new construction regardless of its square footage.  Existing commercial, industrial, and multi-family occupancies are required to be retrofitted with fire sprinkler systems if, the structure is increased in square footage and/or the degree of fire hazard is increased as defined by the Village of Wheeling Building Code.  Additional conditions apply.  Please see section on Fire Sprinkler Installation Requirements for more details.

All fires resulting in property loss are investigated by the Wheeling Fire Department. The Fire Department has nine (9) members who are specially trained and certified by the State of Illinois and/or the National Fire Academy as “Fire Investigators” or “Fire/Arson Investigators”. These members are responsible for determining the point of origin, the probable cause of the fire, assisting property owners in dealing with their insurance companies in post-fire claim resolution, as well as working closely with the Wheeling Police Department in seeking conviction of responsible parties in criminally caused fires.

The Fire Prevention Bureau may be contacted at (847) 459-2669, Monday thru Friday, from 8:00am to 4:30pm.