CARLINVILLE, Ill — Crews from multiple towns are still responding to a massive fire in Carlinville, Illinois Sunday morning and Sunday evening.
Just before 4 a.m., firefighters began battling flames Sunday at an industrial site north of the city.
Carlinville Fire Protection District Chief, Jess McKee said his crews were paged to the scene on John Deer Lane at 3:55 a.m.
"(It was a) commercial structure fire, fully involved with explosions," he said.
As soon as McKee arrived and saw the extent of the damage, he immediately called for extra help.
"We ended up with 18 departments, five ladder trucks operating on the scene. We had to shuttle water in. We're in an area with very few hydrants, so we had to shuttle the water to the scene," he said.
The building, which was quickly turned into ash and rubble, was once a storage place that many businesses used to hold equipment, according to Chief McKee.
"We have multiple businesses throughout here that lost pretty much everything in this fire," he said.
The smell of smoke still filled the air around noon Sunday at the site and nothing was left of the building. Chief McKee said it took fire crews nearly eight hours to put the fire completely out.
"We had community members respond with food, beverages and stuff. Businesses also helped out to keep us going throughout the morning," he said.
While the loss is great, the community showed actions fitting to the Christian holiday, about what it means to help their neighbor.
"We're doing the best we can to put it out and get everybody back home for Easter," McKee said.
During the fire investigation around 3 p.m. on Sunday, Carlinville firefighters confirmed the fire was not completely put out. A small fire was discovered in a warehouse on the south side of the building.
According to the Carlinville Fire Department, as firefighters tried to extinguish the small fire a strong wind quickly grew the fire.
McKee again reached out for help and the response is ongoing.
As of 7:40 p.m., crews were working to remove the roof from the building so ladder trucks could get water to the fire.
The cause is still under investigation. There were no injuries reported.