Brush fire spreads across 10 acres in McHenry County, Illinois; experts issue climate change warning
Firefighters battled a massive brush fire near McHenry, Illinois northwest of Chicago early Tuesday morning — as flames reached 20 feet and rapidly spread across 10 acres.
It took more than a dozen fire departments to fight and contain the brush fire, which officials said most likely started with an unattended burn pile.
Meanwhile, experts say climate change is impacting conditions that will increase the risk of such fires moving forward.
The massive flames in the McHenry County brush fire raged through 10 acres of fields near homes — and high voltage power lines.
This fire was called in to 911 multiple times around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. It was contained by 13 different agencies about an hour and a half later.
Nunda Rural Fire Protection District officials said as the flames reached denser vegetation such as cattails, they intensified — leading to a second-alarm response for additional equipment and manpower.
Late Tuesday, ComEd representatives were on the scene to examine the power lines in the area for damage.
Meanwhile, officials want images they sent from the fire to serve as a warning that unattended burn piles pose a massive fire risk — especially in dry or windy conditions.
Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford joined the fire officials in that warning Tuesday.
"From a public standpoint, people just need to be aware of the conditions," Ford said. "Look at your weather forecast. If it's going to be a windy day, don't burn."
Ford said changes in the climate, especially changing precipitation patterns, can ultimately increase the likelihood of brush fires like the one Tuesday morning in McHenry County.
"Overall, the prognosis isn't, you know, wildfire because we're seeing the huge amount of drought like we're seeing in California, but instead, more frequent potential for wildfire here in Illinois because of the variability of precipitation and more frequent short term dry spells," Ford said, reiterating that this is all connected to climate change.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, multiple studies have found that climate change has already led to an increase in wildfire season length, wildfire frequency, and burned area.
"What climate change is doing through more precipitation variability is making it so that more frequent dry spells that can dry out vegetation — what we call fuel — to make for a higher risk for wildfire," said Ford.
No one from the fire department in charge of investigating the brush fire was available to talk on camera Tuesday, but CBS News Chicago is told the department was still investigating as of Tuesday afternoon.
