Stray embers believed to have ignited field fire near Spring Valley

Firefighters from companies across the Illinois Valley rushed to rural Spring Valley on Sunday afternoon to extinguish a fire encompassing an unspecified number of acres. Firefighters finally cleared the scene around 7:30 p.m. after five hours’ labor, but with no injuries.

Firefighters concentrated their efforts on a parcel located west of Route 89 across from Valley Memorial Park and just south of the Walmart distribution center and Spring Valley Ford. There, smoke from a yet unknown number of acres was billowing into the sky.

Spring Valley Fire Chief Todd Bogatitus said a controlled burn Saturday is believed to have left some embers that were kicked up by strong winds into a neighboring field.

Bogatitus said the fire was worsened by several factors. The city’s water tower was down for maintenance, forcing fire companies to truck in water. Bogatitus thanked the “well over 30″ companies who responded as well as the residents and businesses who supported firefighters with food and beverages.

Mother Nature also impeded the firefighting effort. At the time the fire was reported, the Illinois Valley was under a severe weather alert with gusts between 25 and 40 mph forecast into early Sunday evening. These winds along with cured crops and low humidity levels, will lead to very high fire danger, the National Weather Service said in a statement.

Additionally, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows Bureau and La Salle counties under a moderate drought, according to a Thursday update. A number of local fire departments have posted burn bans for Sunday.

Spring Valley, Ladd respond to 2nd fire

At about 2:40 p.m. Sunday, the Spring Valley Fire Department and Ladd Fire Protection District were paged to a second call of a brush fire in the area Interstate 80 westbound mile markers 71-72. This second fire was quickly extinguished and crews returned to the first incident.

Spring Valley fire department thanks response

The response to Sunday’s fires was widespread. The Spring Valley Fire Department issued a news release thanking each agency that provided support. Fire operations used roughly 230,000 gallons of water and multiple gallons of foam/detergent to suppress the fire, Bogatitus said in the release.

Responding fire departments were Spring Valley, Peru, Ladd, Seatonville, Cherry, La Salle, DePue, Princeton, Oglesby, Bureau, Utica, Mendota/Troy Grove, Standard, Cedar Point, Granville, Hennepin, Arlington, La Moille, Malden, Lostant, Wallace, Wyanet, Sublette and Wenona. Dalzell firefighters handled change of quarters. EMS response included 10/33 Ambulance Service and police response included Spring Valley police and the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office.

Dispatch was handled by ValCom, BueComm, Marshall County, Ottawa Central Dispatch and Putnam County.

The city of Spring Valley Street Department, Gillan Construction LLC and Elite Seamless Gutters also assisted in the response.

Businesses that provided items to support responders were Spring Valley McDonald’s, Spring Valley Casey’s, Happy’s Super Service, Angelo’s Family Restaurant, Alfano’s Pizzeria, Spring Valley Jimmy John’s, Spring Valley Dollar General (Spalding Street), Hennepin Boat Market, Walmart Distribution Center and Spring Valley Auto Body.

“Thank you very much to every community member who brought food, water and supplies,” Bogatitus said in a news release Monday. “We would also like to extend our thanks and appreciation to any of you who we may have missed.”