IL Crews Face Shooting Flames in Silo Blaze
By Carolyn Smith
Source Belleville News-Democrat
Aug. 03 -- Crews battled flames that shot up 20 feet in the air after a grain silo caught fire around 7 p.m. Thursday in Troy.
Troy Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Ed Smith said he believes a passerby saw the fire and called it in.
“When we arrived on scene the upper half of the building was fully involved,” Smith said. He said the fire was near the side of the silo where workers used to load grain onto trucks.
Smith noted the 30-foot-high building has been there for approximately 100 years but has been out of service for many years. A separate building on the same property is used to sell seed, sand and other supplies — it was not damaged in the fire.
No one, including the 30 firefighters, was injured during the fire. Smith said no one was on the property when crews arrived.
It took crews about half an hour to knock down the fire.
“From there we were more in a cleanup mode, getting the hot spots and making sure it didn’t rekindle,” he said.
Smith said the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office was called to investigate the cause of the fire. Officials do not suspect foul play.
Firefighters from Troy and Maryville worked four trucks to extinguish the flames. Backup crews from Glen Carbon manned the Troy fire department while firefighters were at the scene.
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