“All I seen is smoke coming from that way,” said Michael Jones, who had to put out a fire in his own front yard Friday. “I was going to get in the shower and when I looked out the upstairs window all I saw was smoke. I knew there was trouble from there. I ran outside and saw the grass was on fire. I went and grabbed the hose and a rake and put out the fire.”
While fire crews won’t confirm, Jones has his own theory as to how the fire started.
“I imagine that someone threw out a cigarette and a nice little breeze and it started from there,” said Jones.
Throwing anything on fire out of a car onto the road is a big no-no, especially right now, with such dry conditions on the ground.
“It’s just not thoughtful and people need to have a little more respect,” he said.
Making matters worse, a parked semi near the family’s home was just minutes away from catching fire.
“I just thank God that he looked out the window otherwise I would hate to imagine what would have happened with the semi truck being right there two feet from the fire,” said Tami Jones. “We could have lost the house, the semi, everything.”
While she also doesn’t know the exact cause of the fire, Jones says it’s a reminder people need to be careful during such dry times.
“Everything is just so dry and burnt up, I’m praying for rain,” she said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor Report now shows that 92-percent of Illinois is facing some type of drought conditions.
Iowa is in a little better condition with less than half the state facing drought conditions.
