Fire Officials: Barn Fires Don't Appear Connected

Two barn fires that kept Huntley and Rutland Dundee firefighters busy into the early morning hours Friday do not appear related, but investigations into the cause of each fire continue, authorities said.

At this time, “there’s no connection between the two barns,” Rutland-Dundee Townships Fire District Chief Richard Thomas said late Friday morning.

Rutland-Dundee firefighters responded to a barn fire around 9pm at 39W495 Freeman Road and discovered the barn fully engulfed, Thomas said.

Residents in a home near the barn were evacuated as a precaution, but firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading, Thomas said. No injuries were reported.

Surrounding fire departments including Huntley Fire Protection District, East Dundee and Countryside Fire Protection District and Carpentersville fire assisted in containing the fire and providing coverage for fire stations, he said.

“The crews did a great job of doing that (containment),” Thomas said.

No damage estimate was available.

Fire officials were continuing to conduct interviews to find out who owned the barn, he said. The structure, located a half mile away from Freeman Road in unincorporated Kane County, may be part of the Kane County Forest Preserve’s holdings, he said.

A cause of the fire is also being investigated. It may be difficult to determine the cause since the entire barn was destroyed, Thomas said.

The fire posed a challenge because tanker engines had to travel down a one lane, gravel road to gain access to the barn and could not turn around, the chief said. As a result, putting out the fire was more time consuming, he said. The weather didn’t help either, it was cold with light rain falling.

The Freeman Road barn fire occurred a few hours after fire swept through a barn on Donald Road in Huntley, located about three miles away.

Huntley Fire Protection District Chief Jim Saletta said this fire appeared suspicious due to the location of the barn and the fact that is it abandoned.

Authorities are investigating the cause of that fire.