Firefighters stomp out brush fire near Waukegan Harbor

A large brush fire consumed roughly 10 acres north of Waukegan Harbor earlier this afternoon, a Waukegan Fire Department official said.

It took roughly 40 firefighters from 10 area departments trained to tackle wildfires about an hour to bring the blaze under control.

A Waukegan police officer patrolling the beach noticed smoke rising around 3:34 p.m. in the grassy dunes area a mile north of the harbor, just east of the former Outboard Marine Corporation property along Seahorse Drive.

"The fire was small but it flared up pretty fast because of the winds from the north," Battalion Chief Dave Roberts said. "The crews got there and they felt that they couldn't control it with what they had."

Waukegan Fire called for mutual aid from area fire departments.

Authorities evacuated swimmers in the beach area as firefighters fought to control the flames from spreading south. Firefighters were able to get a hose line south of the burning area to stop it from advancing, Roberts said.

"The way it was blowing we had to be careful," Roberts said. "We stopped it from getting to the beach area."