Firefighters from eight departments responded Wednesday to a fully engulfed barn fire in Harvard that was started after brush burning spread to the structure, officials said.
The Harvard Fire Protection District responded around 10:24 a.m. Wednesday to the 19800 block of Route 173 in unincorporated Harvard for a report of a structure fire.
Harvard Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Bryan Pierce said crews arrived to find a fully engulfed two-story barn.
The renter who lives in the residence started a fire to burn some brush around 8 a.m., Pierce said.
The barn was discovered to be fully involved in flames two hours later.
The barn was not in operation and was used to store bales of hay.
A pickup truck and a nearby garage both sustained some damage during the fire, which caused the barn to collapse.
Pierce said there were also some spot fires back in the woods behind the home that had to be extinguished as well.
Firefighters were unable to fully extinguish the fire and expect it to smolder for several days.
The fire was declared under control within 20 minutes and all firefighters left the scene within an hour and a half, Pierce said.
The Harvard Fire Protection District was assisted by firefighters from the Woodstock, Hebron, Marengo, Walworth, Sharon, Capron and Wonder Lake fire departments.
The Wednesday fire was the second barn fire in Harvard in less than a week.
A dozen fire departments responded to extinguish a large barn that burned to the ground around 5 a.m. Sunday in the 19300 block of Hebron Road in unincorporated Harvard.
Firefighters arrived to find a large storage barn approximately 50 feet by 200 feet with the entire structure fully engulfed in flames.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the third alarm level to bring additional manpower as well as water to the scene.
Over $1.2 million in damage was reported in that fire, which is being investigated by the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal.