At 1:54 PM today, I was driving on Railroad Avenue on my way home, when I saw black smoke from behind a house. I witnessed a large fire precariously close to a garage in the 900 block of Railroad Avenue. I called the Kewanee Fire Department so they could go check it out. Unfortunately, within minutes the flames had spread to the garage. The Fire Department arrived within minutes and was able to extinguish the flames on a propane tank and the garage. According to Chief Welgat, the resident was burning landscape waste, when the fire jumped the fire pit and spread to the garage.
Reminder, Burn days do not start until April and the fire must be at least 10 feet from a structure. Railroad Avenue was still one-lane as of 2:40.
