BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — At least two dozen field fires were reported in Illinois last week fueled by a “perfect storm” of above-average temperatures, dry crop conditions and high winds as farmers attempted to harvest their crops. 

The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) reported fires erupting on Wednesday, Oct. 14 near Altamont, Beecher City, Carlinville, Champaign, Clinton, Danforth, Delavan, Effingham, Equality, Galesburg, Germantown, Harvel, La Houge, Lebanon, Mahomet, Mason City, Paris, Peotone, Tonica and other locations. These conflagrations, ranging from an estimated 20 to 500 acres in size, were followed by weekend crop field blazes near the farming communities of Coffeen, Catlin, Vandalia and Beardstown.

In Tazewell County, roughly 12 fire departments responded to a field fire near Delavan and Green Valley, according to the Tazewell County Consolidated Communications Center and WEEK-TV. The Peoria television station reported that the fire was contained as of 5:28 p.m., and was started when a combine caught on fire south of Toboggan Avenue.

“With the high wind that we have today, it did jump Toboggan and Fisher road and continued north,” Delvan Fire Chief Chris Sydney said.

The chief added that with smoke blowing across the roadways, the poor visibility lead to a multiple vehicle accident. No injuries were reported, but one firefighter was getting checked out for smoke inhalation, according to WEEK..

At least six more fires were reported in Montgomery County on Friday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 17, the Witt Volunteer Fire Department reported. 

“At this time, we’re still working to better gauge the impact of these fires before we can estimate damages,” Andrea Casali, communications director for the IFB, told Farm World. “Conditions are unfortunately just right for this type of thing in some areas.”

Ignition sources attributed to the fires ranged from careless use of smoking materials to sparks from farm machinery and passing coal trains. The unifying factor behind the fires was unseasonably warm weather, with temperatures in the lower 80s -— or some 20 degrees above average. 

“The other key contributing factors were very dry conditions, with a good chunk of east and southeast Illinois under moderate drought, and there were very strong winds gusting to 30 to 35 mph,” said Matt Barnes, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln. 

Peak wind gusts of 49 mph were reported on Oct. 14 in Champaign County, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln. In Peoria, peak winds on Oct. 14 reached 43 mph, while winds reached 45 mph in Bloomington. The conditions caused the NWS to issue a Red Flag warning for much of central Illinois as some fires appeared to have gotten out of control.

“I would say that windy conditions had the most to do with these fires,” said Kim Craig, who purchases grain for Bell Enterprises in Woodford County. “We had six and half straight weeks of very dry and hot weather.”