According to Manteno Fire Chief Rick Petersen, at approximately 3:08 p.m., on Friday, October 24, the Manteno Community Fire Protection District responded to the report of a field fire involving standing corn, around 9000 N Road and 4500 W Road in Rockville Township. Due to the incident involving standing corn, a MABAS box alarm for additional resources was requested by the responding Battalion Chief prior to arriving on scene. Additionally, two local farms were contacted for assistance with tractors and tillage equipment.
Crews arrived on scene within 10 minutes to find two-to-three acres of standing corn burning. Due to the intensity and rapid growth of the fire, the initial actions included defensive extinguishment by utilizing 4500 W Road and 9000 N Road as fire breaks to position apparatus. Once the two farmers arrived, they utilized the farming equipment to cut a fire break around the standing corn that was burning. This fire break allowed firefighters to enter the field with less risk and extinguish the fire. In total, approximately 10 acres of corn burned from the incident. Incident Command reported fire control at 3:59 p.m.
For the safety of emergency responders and motorists traveling along 9000 N Road, Incident Command closed the roadway for approximately one hour. The cause of the fire is undetermined, and there were no injuries to civilians or firefighters.
A MABAS box alarm brought in fire resources from Bourbonnais, Manhattan, Salina, Frankfort, Bradley, Limestone, Pilot, Monee, Wilmington, and Kankakee. The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the closing of 9000 N Road.
Special thanks go to the McCorkle and Whitten farms for the aid they provided. Without their assistance, crop damage would have been significantly higher and the risk for emergency responders would have been greater.