Ordinance violations pending after Spring Valley fire

Spring Valley police anticipate charges will be brought against a rural property owner whose controlled burn led to a Sunday fire that required more than 30 companies to extinguish.

But Spring Valley Police Chief Adam Curran said Tuesday he anticipates only ordinance violations brought against the property owner, who has yet to be identified. Curran said the preliminary investigation revealed no criminal intent or felony negligence, only a lack of compliance with city ordinances.

Spring Valley firefighters responded Sunday to a field across from Valley Memorial Park and south of the Walmart Distribution Center. A confluence of events including high winds and scheduled maintenance at the city’s water tower forced firefighters to truck in water with assistance from more than 30 responding agencies.

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, Fire Chief Todd 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.”