VIDEOS: Extinguishing massive fires like the one near Rio, Illinois, on Sunday is the definition of a team effort. โMutual aid is very critical in small communities,โ Knoxville Fire’s Jeff Vandermark said.
The flames spread quickly, forcing crews to call in nearly every available volunteer from MABAS Division 31 โ a network of 19 surrounding departments in Knox County. โWe had to drag one of the firefighters inside and give him water and get him out of the smoke,โ Rio resident Paul Saline said.
Local farmers also joined the fight. โWe actually had to work with local farmers to get as much tillage equipment in the area and start getting ground turned up,โ Rio Fire Department Assistant Chief Ryan Bramlett said.
In cases like Rio, water is the most important resource. Across the region, departments were paged to bring every tanker they had. In Knoxville, firefighters brought the largest one in the county.
โThere’s enough engines there usually, but we have a 3,500-gallon tanker and our other two trucks sitting there have 1,800 gallons on them, so we have a lot of water sitting in the station,โ Vandermark said.
WQAD-TV ABC 8 Moline
