$1 million in damage caused to meat processing plant after three

Approximately $1 million in damage was caused after a three-alarm fire engulfed four buildings at a meat processing plant near Harvard, fire officials said.

The Harvard Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff's Office responded around 7:44 p.m. Saturday to Olague Farms Meat Packing, 22701 Oak Grove Road in unincorporated Harvard for a report of a structure fire.

Firefighters arrived in 11 minutes to find heavy flames showing from a building, Harvard Fire Chief John Kimmel said.

The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the second alarm level to bring additional fire departments to the scene.

There are no fire hydrants nearby and firefighters had to set up water tender operations to shuttle water to the scene, Kimmel said.

The MABAS alarm was later upgraded to the third level for additional crews.

Kimmel said at least 10-14 fire departments responded to the scene.

Firefighters remained on the scene until around 1:30 a.m. Sunday extinguishing the fire.

Crews were called back to the scene around 5 a.m. for a rekindling of the fire.

Kimmel said crews were called back again a few hours later, at which time an excavator to assist with the overhaul.

No injuries to firefighters or civilians were reported.

Four buildings were damaged and considered a total loss due to the fire, which required over 260,000 gallons of water to extinguish.

The loss was estimated at approximately $750,000 to $1 million, Kimmel said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Harvard Fire Protection District and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal.