By: Kate Pabich
kpabich@cbs4qc.com
Fire rips through an Illinois warehouse, keeping crews on scene for hours and the bitter cold made it especially hard to fight the flames.
Rock Falls fire officials said it was a warehouse used by truck companies off Route 30 in Rock Falls, that started smoking Tuesday around 4 p.m.
But the flames light up the town way past dark. Rock Falls Deputy Chief, Gary Cook, said the fire was already going strong when they got there.
"The facility was heavily involved on the East end and we tried to cut it off and put it out but we had to secure the water supply because we don't have hydrants here, this is all tanked water," said Deputy Chief Cook.
He said the building had multiple owners, and a lot of the equipment stored inside is a total loss.
And as for fire fighters like Preston Zigler, dealing with the cold temps was almost as big of an obstacle as the fire.
"It's not bad once you get a nice layer of ice around your body, it actually insulates," said Zigler.
Water from the hoses was pooling and creating a dangerous mixture of slush and ice. The Red Cross was there to help out and the stations did everything possible to keep their men and women warm.
No one was hurt in the fire, and there's no word yet on what started the blaze.
