ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The former Rock Island Livestock Auction Barn had multiple buildings burn to the ground on Saturday, Feb. 24, but crews were able to save 22 cows and millions of dollars worth of surrounding homes and businesses.
Rock Island Fire Department crews were called out at 5:37 p.m. to 534 34th Ave. According to Rock Island Fire Marshal Greg Marty, crews arrived within three to four minutes of the call and found a large fire already burning on the backside of a barn along the railroad tracks.
The main building on fire at first stretched three city blocks, from 34th to 37th Ave. Due to the size of the fire, surrounding fire departments were called immediately. More than a dozen departments from around the county responded, many with water tankers as low water pressure became a concern.
"Our biggest concern when we arrived was all the surrounding buildings, we knew that this building was very well involved. And there was a very low likelihood that we could save this building," Marty said. "So our focus turned to saving the properties around it. And this morning, we're very happy to report that millions of dollars of property, other operating businesses, and homes in the area were well protected. And this fire did not leave this property."
Multiple factors caused the fire to spread quickly. Former employees on the scene told News 8 that the buildings were built in the mid-1940s and were all wood. Marty said that the buildings also held many bales of hay and straw that fed the fire.
Firefighters were told of cattle still in one building that the fire hadn't engulfed yet. Employees of the barn were able to lend their expertise to move the cattle into pens that were in a safer area.
"We made contact with workers from this building and we learned very quickly on that potentially 23 to 25 cattle were still inside. So we made an entry into the building, we located the cattle, we moved them safely to two different areas that were outside. We were able to save 22 cows, and actually only one was lost," Marty said.
The one bull that died in the fire was kept in a separate area of the barn, and perished early on in the fire, according to Marty.
As of noon on Sunday, one bull was still on the loose. If it is spotted around town, the fire marshal asks the public to call the police.
"We do have some local ranchers that have brought horses into town and they have the training and expertise to get it wrangled in and get it back in here. So we're prepared when we find it," Marty said.
News 8's Joe McCoy spoke with the current owner of the property who is devastated by the fire. He said the company had just reinvested in repairs to the property after it was damaged in severe storms in April 2023.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is underway. With a scene that spans more than two football fields, Marty is expecting a longer timeline. "It's going to take a very long time to process that scene, to gather all the data to evaluate the data, and then to help us determine what the cause was," he said.