An extra alarm fire at a wood products factory that broke out Tuesday night rekindled on Wednesday morning and crews were expected to remain there all day in an unincorporated area of McHenry County near far northwest suburban Hebron and the Wisconsin state line.
| Images: McHenry Fire Destroys Factory Raw Video: Wood Products Factory Fire |
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The fire broke out at 9:50 p.m. in a rural area at Northwest Wood Products and the fire was seen coming through the roof when crews arrived, according to Alden Hebron Greenwood Fire Protection District Chief Mike Hutchison.
The fire was raised to a five-alarm fire with special calls and was under control about 2:30 a.m., the chief said. Four workers were inside when the fire broke out, but were able to self-evacuate before crews arrived and there were no reports of injuries, Hutchison said.
The address of the business is 16306 Hebron Road, according to a McHenry County Sheriffs police dispatcher.
At about 6 a.m., the fire had rekindled and was still smoldering at 7:15 a.m., Hutchison said.
Crews were expected to be there all day, the chief said. The industrial company builds wood pallets, which had been burning, and was left "pretty much totally destroyed," causing an estimated "couple hundred thousand dollars" in damage, Hutchison said.
Thirty different departments helped out to fight the fire and to bring water in, as the area does not have hydrants, Hutichson said.
There were no smoke alarms or smoke detectors found in the building and the origin and cause of the blaze were under investigation, according to the chief. The frigid weather also made the fire more difficult to attack because "everything took longer," the chief said.
"Anytime you have zero weather it takes a toll on the equipment and the firefighters," he said.
Raw video of fire to be posted shortly.
Copyright 2006, Chicago Sun-Times Inc.
