Trash burn sparks downstate brush fires

PEMBROKE TOWNSHIP -- Pembroke Township Fire Chief Mark Baines says residents burning garbage were probably to blame for three brush fires that hit his area of Kankakee County.

Some 50 firefighters from a dozen fire departments battled the fires Sunday afternoon.

Baines says the largest of the fires covered 32 acres. The others covered about 10 acres apiece.

No one was injured or evacuated, and no property was damaged as the fires were all contained to woodlands.

Baines says the Kankakee County Sheriff's Police will begin patrolling the area to make sure residents stop burning garbage -- especially on dry and windy days like Sunday.