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Firefighters extinguish barn fire near Barrington Hills
Firefighters work a barn fire Jan. 8 on Penny Road in Barrington Hills. The structure, located on Cook County Forest Preserve property, collapsed. | Dave Shields~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 15, 2013 12:13PM
Crews from the Barrington Fire Department and the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District battled a barn fire Tuesday at 544 Penny Road in Barrington Hills.
The fire, which sparked at 12:20 p.m., was on Forest Preserve property in unincorporated Cook County.
Karen Vaughan, spokesperson for the Cook County Forest Preserve, reported that the blaze started in a barn near a “watchman” property. Vaughan noted that those properties are sometimes occupied by Forest Preserve employees, but said the barn was unoccupied Tuesday.
“When (crews) got there, they said the fire was fully involved, burning through the roof,” added Barrington Police Chief Jim Arie.
Arie reported that the structure, an 1,800-square foot barn, was engulfed in flames. When moving hoses to the barn, he added, the roof collapsed into the structure.
“There were no other structures that were close by,” Arie said.
The fire was under control about an hour after crews arrived. A Cook County Forest Preserve representative also was at the scene. The county and Barrington police both confirmed that there were no people or animals inside the structure during the fire, Arie said.
“The fire is still under investigation,” he said.
Seventeen area fire departments assisted, including personnel of equipment from Lake Zurich, Wauconda, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Nunda, Fox River Grove, Wheeling, Long Grove, Palatine City, Palatine Rural, Rolling Meadows, Cary, Hoffman Estates, Arlington Heights, East Dundee, Algonquin and Buffalo Grove.
