How suburban firefighters helped at Chemtool fire in Rockton: ‘Everywhere ... something was burning’

As John Knebl drove west toward Rockton as part of a caravan of firefighting vehicles on Monday, a black speck in the distance grew to a billowing cloud of smoke overwhelming the horizon.

The deputy chief of the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District was part of a massive response of more than 80 fire departments to the blaze at the Chemtool Inc. lubricant production plant that included dozens of suburban communities sending fire crews up to three hours away in conjunction with the statewide Mutual Aid Box Alarm System partnership.

As soon as the call was made to the 69 MABAS divisions in Illinois, Knebl and other suburban firefighters responded to assist colleagues in the town north of Rockford near the Wisconsin border.

“In 25 years, I haven’t seen an incident this large,” he said. “It wasn’t just the black plume of smoke everyone saw. Everywhere you looked in the plant, something was burning. The amount of fire equipment and personnel on the scene was just incredible.”

Knebl and McHenry Township Fire Protection District Chief Rudy Horist were part of the team that supervised the scene in the late afternoon on Monday to relieve Rockton fire officials who had been on duty since the fire began early in the morning. Until about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Knebl and Horist helped direct MABAS divisions in a dizzying array of assignments.

Because only one of two hydrants functioned at the site, Knebl said tender trucks continually needed to deliver water from wherever it could be found. Crews had to divert runoff water away from the nearby Rock River to prevent possible contamination. Units contained brush fires in the surrounding wooded areas.

The entire time, the Environmental Protection Agency and other groups monitored air and water quality. One injury to a firefighter was reported while local homes and businesses had to be evacuated.

In 38 years as a firefighter, Horist never had seen a fire nor a response this large. As his MABAS group of surrounding departments converged in Huntley, other MABAS divisions gathered in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties.

“We had apparatus there from hours away, and that’s the beauty of the MABAS system,” Horist said. “Even if a neighbor from hours away needs our help, we want to provide it.”

In the hours and days that followed, fire units from Arlington Heights, Cary, Elgin, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, St. Charles and many other suburbs responded. By the time West Chicago Fire Chief Patrick Tanner was called there on Tuesday, a company from Louisiana was close to finishing off the blaze with a special foam.

“The mutual aid system is one of the best in the country,” said Tanner, who was part of a group of firefighter crews from Glen Ellyn, Itasca, Oak Brook and Roselle. “This is a prime example of how well organized it is in Illinois.”

Antioch Fire Chief Jon Cokefair never sleeps easy when his crews are on a night call. On Monday night he sent an engine to Rockton as part of a Lake County MABAS contingent that didn’t come back until 10 a.m. Tuesday.

“As a chief you need to make sure you do everything you can to get them home safely,” Cokefair said. “You sleep a lot lighter on nights like that.”

A MABAS division from Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Palatine and Rolling Meadows was dispatched to Rockton in the late afternoon on Monday. Rolling Meadows Lt. Pete Sutter arrived Tuesday morning to help relieve the crews that had worked through the night.

“I can’t even put it into words,” Sutter said. “Every firefighter’s got their one big fire. It’s definitely something that I never thought I’d come across.”

Suburban fire departments that responded to Rockton blaze

These suburban fire departments responded to help control the Rockton chemical plant fire, according to the Winnebago County sheriff’s office.

Algonquin-Lake In the Hills

Antioch

Arlington Heights

Aurora

Bartlett

Batavia

Beach Park

Cary

Crystal Lake

Des Plaines

Elburn

Elgin

Elk Grove Village

Fox Lake

Fox River Grove

Glen Ellyn

Glenview

Gurnee

Hampshire

Hoffman Estates

Huntley

Itasca

Lake Zurich

Lake Villa

Libertyville

Lincolnshire-Riverwoods

Long Grove

Maple Park

Mount Prospect

Mundelein

North Aurora

Northbrook

Oak Brook

Palatine

Park Ridge

Rolling Meadows

Roselle

Round Lake

St. Charles

South Elgin

Streamwood

Wauconda

West Chicago

Westmont