CHICAGO — The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday for Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, and a number of other northern Illinois counties. West winds with gusts up to 45 mph and a low humidity of 15 to 20 percent create a high risk of fast-spreading fires.
Rochelle Fire Chief David Sawlsville said any blaze could get out of control.
“Any fire that gets going is gonna travel quick,” he said. “So with that kind of sustained winds above 20 miles an hour, that’s gonna cause that fire to spread pretty fast.”
He noted that any fire puts a burden on the community.
“A large portion of the district is supported by paid on-call firefighters. So that means that they have to leave their jobs, travel to the station, get in the apparatus, and put out the fire.”
Matt Friedlein with the National Weather Service said it’s due to a unique combination of weather.
“ The one downside of our recent warmth is that it is dried conditions out,” he said. “We haven’t had any recent snow or snow melt, so the ground conditions are very dry. So put that all together. And there is a concern of rapid fire spread.”
Outdoor burning is not recommended and any activities that could cause a fire should be postponed.