A large barn was destroyed after it became fully engulfed in flames and spread to a second barn, leaving it also fully engulfed in flames, near Huntley Friday morning, fire officials said.
The Huntley Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 11:44 a.m. Friday to the 14800 block of Church Road in unincorporated Huntley for reports of a structure fire.
Huntley Fire Protection District Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said firefighters arrived to find a large barn fully engulfed in flames with multiple nearby structures threatened and a field fire burning across the roadway.
A large column of black smoke was seen in the distance.
The response was upgraded to a Working Fire and later elevated through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) for additional manpower, water resources and change of quarter companies due to the size of the incident and rapid fire spread.
Firefighters immediately deployed hose lines to begin extinguishing the fire and protecting nearby buildings, Vucha said.
An adjacent structure had already caught fire when fire crews arrived.
The approximately 90-foot by 40-foot barn was heavily involved in fire, with portions of the roof and exterior walls already beginning to collapse, Vucha said.
The fire occurred in a rural location that does not have fire hydrants in the area.
Rural water supply operations were established west of the fire scene where water tenders continuously shuttled water to support extinguishment efforts.
Vucha said firefighters shifted much of their focus to protecting nearby structures since the main barn was completely consumed by fire.
They worked to contain multiple rapidly spreading field fires fueled by strong winds.
Grass and brush fire trucks were deployed into the fields and crews worked to stop the fire’s spread.
The field fires were quickly extinguished and ultimately contained to less than an acre, Vucha said.
One adjacent barn that became involved contained hay, causing a labor-intensive and time-consuming extinguishment process for firefighters.
An excavator and additional heavy machinery were requested to the scene to assist firefighters with dismantling the dense stockpile of burning hay.
Vucha said the bulk of the fire involving the barns was extinguished within approximately 90 minutes.
The barn containing hay is expected to continue burning and smoldering for several hours while crews work to tear apart and fully extinguish the tightly packed hay.
The primary barn was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no animals were injured during the incident, Vucha said. No firefighter injuries were reported.
The Huntley Fire Protection District thanked the numerous assisting fire agencies that responded to the scene, the departments that provided coverage at Huntley fire stations throughout the incident and the SEECOM 9-1-1 public safety telecommunicators for their assistance and coordination during the response.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Huntley Fire Protection District.