Fire hits Spring Grove landscaping business

SPRING GROVE – A storage barn containing diesel fuel, gas and landscaping materials was destroyed in a Monday morning fire.

However, no injuries were reported, and the fire was contained to a single building, officials said.

About 9:20 a.m., firefighters responded to Herrera Landscaping and Remodeling Inc. in unincorporated Spring Grove after a storage shed at the 8209 Wilmot Road business caught fire.

“We had a pretty raging fire there,” Spring Grove fire Chief Rich Tobiasz said.

Eduardo Herrera, son of business owner Anatolio Herrera, said he tried to put out the fire himself before crews arrived but was unsuccessful.

“By the time I was able to reach with the hose, the fire was too big,” he said.

The water supply in the area is limited, and Spring Grove does not have hydrants in the area, so officials requested backup from neighboring departments.

It took about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control. Firefighters successfully kept it from spreading to nearby buildings, including a home.

However, the storage shed, which contained thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment, was destroyed. Tobiasz estimated the damage to be about $25,000.

“[There] was a lot of stuff there that was pretty expensive, a lot of equipment,” Herrera said.

About a mile stretch of Wilmot Road was closed while agencies battled the blaze.

The cause remained under investigation Monday afternoon, Tobiasz said.

The business has been at the Wilmot Road location since 2000. Herrera said he was glad that no one was injured, but he was saddened by the loss.

“The way the economy’s going, it’s just another thing on top of all ... that’s going on,” Herrera said.

Eleven area departments assisted Spring Grove with the fire, including Hebron, Wonder Lake, Richmond, Fox Lake, McHenry, Antioch Fire, Antioch Rescue, Wauconda, Silver Lake, and Salem Township Rescue. Randall Township from Wisconsin also responded.

• Northwest Herald reporter Crystal Lindell contributed to this report.