County highway department to get sprinkler system

The Jackson County Highway Department is looking to install a sprinkler system in the aftermath of a Christmas Eve fire that caused extensive damage to its Black River Falls shop.

Highway Commissioner Randy Anderson asked the executive and finance committee for $40,000 in Ho-Chunk Nation funds for the new system, which will provide added protection to the building in case of another fire.

The committee approved the request, and the county board will give the final say on the proposal at its meeting later this month.

Its just that we wanted to add the sprinkler system for added protection, Anderson said.

Had we had the sprinkler system, theres a good chance it would have isolated the fire to the one truck and wouldnt have (allowed it to) spread throughout the entire building.

The Dec. 24, 2012, fire started in a plow truck and left behind 10 damaged plows and extensive damage to the Harrison Street building that totaled $1 million.

Anderson said the shop met state code requirements without a sprinkler system, and the county incurred no insurance premium increases because of the blaze, he said.

However, the highway department will experience an 7.6 percent insurance premium increase for 2014, but thats due to inflation rather than the fire incident, according to county Clerk Kyle Deno.

The county board will consider the highway departments $40,000 request at its meeting Aug. 19 at 5:30 p.m.

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County highway department to get sprinkler system