February 05, 2025
Local News

Nachusa Grasslands fire causes $500,000 in damages

By BY CODY
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Dixon firefighters work to control a fire in an outbuilding at the Nachusa Grasslands headquarters in Franklin Grove that broke out around 7 this morning. (Michael Krabbenhoeft)

FRANKLIN GROVE – A storage shed and its contents, worth about $500,000, were destroyed Wednesday morning in a fire at Nachusa Grasslands.

Franklin Grove Fire Department responded to 2075 S. Lowden Road around 6:45 a.m.

The Morton pole storage barn stored plenty of the Grasslands’ mobile apparatus: six water trailer sprayers, six utility trailers, a tractor and a pickup truck are a total loss, said Gelasia Croom, spokeswoman for the Nature Conservancy, which owns the 3,600-acre prairie and wooded area.

An estimated $500,000 worth of damage was done, Franklin Grove Fire Lt. David Haas said.

The fire took 4 hours to contain and did not spread to nearby fields or affect the nearby bison habitat. A replacement shed will be rebuilt, Nachusa Project Director Bill Kleiman said Wednesday afternoon.

Arson is not suspected, and the state fire marshal is investigating the cause.

No one was injured.

Amboy, Ashton, Dixon City, Dixon Rural, Mount Morris and Oregon fire departments also responded.

#Crime