Wildfire, Kankakee
- When
- October 6, 12:20 PM CST to 4:00 PM CST
- Where
- Kankakee forecast zone
- Crop damage
- $320,000
- Reported by
- Newspaper
- Coordinates
- 41.138, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Illinois, October 6, 2024
A large wildfire burned 400 acres of cropland northeast of Herscher in Kankakee County during the afternoon of the 6th. According to one online news source, the fire was believed to be started from the rear cropper mechanism of a combine.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- $320,000
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
A large wildfire burned 400 acres of cropland northeast of Herscher in Kankakee County during the afternoon of the 6th. According to one online news source, the fire was believed to be started from the rear cropper mechanism of a combine. The same news source lists an estimated loss of $320,000, a majority of which was corn and the rest soy. The fire took several hours and the help of multiple fire crews to extinguish and burned a total of around 400 acres worth of crops; 300 of corn and 100 of soybeans. A Special Weather Statement was in effect at the time advertising an elevated fire danger for the day due to gusty winds and dry fuels, especially south of I-80. Numerous smaller fires broke out across northern Illinois on the 6th.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
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- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, October 6, 2024
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, October 6, 2024
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, October 6, 2024
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, October 6, 2024
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Superior, October 6, 2024
- Damaging Winds in West Virginia, October 6, 2024
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, October 6, 2024
- Damaging Winds in West Virginia, October 6, 2024
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, October 6, 2024
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, October 6, 2024
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, October 2024
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1218010.