Crime & Safety

Dozens of Firefighters Battle Forest Fire In Potawatomi Woods

Blaze sent up a cloud of smoke in the forest preserve just north of Dundee Road and Portwine Lane Sunday.

It took twelve fire departments to put out a forest fire the size of a football field that broke out in Potawatomi Woods Sunday.

Firefighters from Prospect Heights Fire Protection District first responded to the blaze around 4 p.m. Sunday, according to Prospect Heights Fire Chief Donald Gould. The fire took place deep in the forest preserve, which is located in unincorporated Wheeling Township just over the border with Northbrook. 

In addition to firefighters from Prospect Heights, firefighters from Northbrook, Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Lake Zurich, Countryside, Fox River Grove, Elk Grove Township, Prospect Heights, Des Plaines, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods, Glencoe and Grayslake also responded. It took roughly two hours to put out the seven-to-ten acre blaze, according to Gould.

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“The fire was a little stubborn,” he said.

Fighting the fire was complicated by the fact that there were no access roads to reach the part of the woods where it broke out, so firefighters had to hike in with their equipment. Two vehicles also got stuck in the mud.

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“We don’t handle forest fires, usually,” Gould said. “We had to call in what we call a brush response truck.”

No structures were damaged during the fire, and no one was injured. Traffic was temporarily blocked in Northbrook, however, because firefighters set up a command center at Portwine Lane and Forest View Drive, cordoning off the street.   

The blaze is currently under investigation by the Cook County Forest Preserve District Police.


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