Boxes provide Franklin Park firefighters easier access to homes

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:15AM

Small metal boxes being attached to front doors in Franklin Park are not a new decorating trend.

They’re called Knox Boxes and could save residents a broken door.

Knox Boxes have been required for commercial building by village ordinance for about 20 years, Fire Chief Steve Iovinelli said.

The boxes hold a key to the building. When an alarm goes off or the Fire Department gets a call, firefighters can get into the Knox Box for a key rather than breaking a door down.

“If they have a key holder and they live 40-50 minutes away, we’re not waiting to get in,” Iovinelli said of the commercial buildings. “We have to do some damage.”

Knox Boxes allow firefighters and paramedics to avoid that damage. Only Franklin Park firefighters have a key to the commercial Knox Box.

Now the village is making the boxes available to residents.

“We have quite a population of retired adults in our community,” Iovinelli said. “Maybe a grandmother is hard of hearing. (She calls) us, but can’t make it to the door. (With a Knox Box,) we don’t have to do any damage.”

The boxes are “like little safes.” Iovinelli said. “They’re all hardened steel.

“It’s easier to break into the house than break into the box.”

At the Leyden Township Senior Center on Mannheim Road in Franklin Park, firefighters responded to an alarm about five months ago, Township Administrator Greg Ignoffo said.

“They got the key from the Knox Box and checked it out,” Ignoffo said.

For a Knox Box, the village requires a $175 deposit, which is refundable when returned.