A barn, a smaller outbuilding, and a dump truck were all destroyed in an early Thursday morning fire on the Chuck McLean property at 4505 Brubaker Road east of Illinois Route 37.
Kinmundy-Alma Fire Chief Kevin Day says a Tri-County Electric lineman on his way home from restoring power spotted and called 911. He then went to McLean’s home and alerted him to the fire.
Day says when the fire was first spotted it was already going through the roof of the barn. The 40 by 40-foot barn and the straw and lumber stored inside were all a total loss. The fire also spread to a dump truck parked beside the barn destroying it. A trailer parked next to the dump truck was damaged. The blaze also spread to another smaller building containing used tires and rubber.
Salem Firemen were called on mutual aid to the scene to provide a shuttle to bring water to fight the fire.
Day says there was electricity to the building, but the owner did not believe anything was plugged in. The State Fire Marshal’s office will be visiting the site to further investigate the cause.
The fire call came in at 12:40 Thursday morning with firemen on the scene until four am.
