The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By DAVID GRIMES for The Quill
BALD BLUFF TOWNSHIP - A mid-afternoon blaze Friday in rural Henderson County burned 10 acres of wooded area but claimed no lives.
A call for help came into the Oquawka Fire Department at 3:30 p.m.
Oquawka Fire Chief Hal Jern returned from the site of the fire about eight miles north of Oquawka along the Keithsburg blacktop shortly after 8:30 p.m.
Jern said there was no loss of life and the 10 acres of timber that burned had no monetary value.
Part of the property at county roads 2700 North and 1375 East is within Big River State Forest and part of private property.
Some 70 volunteer firefighters responded to Jern's call for help.
Firefighters from New Boston, Keithsburg and Seaton in Mercer County; Little York in Warren County; and Biggsville, Stronghurst, Gulfport, Oquawka and Gladstone in Henderson County helped fight the blaze.
Jern said bringing the fire under control took 30,000 gallons of water pumped by water relay operation.
Cause of the fire has yet to be determined.