A controlled burn near the Sauk Village Public Works Facility resulted in a accidental fire Tuesday evening, village officials said.
Just before 7 p.m., the Sauk Village Fire Department, along with the village’s automatic aid partners, responded to a large fire at the village’s Public Works Facility, 2836 Nichols Drive, said fire Chief Keith Damm.
The fire was confined to an area away from building structures and responders left the scene within four hours. Some vacant cars were destroyed but there were no reported injuries to residents or first responders, said Mayor Marva Campbell-Pruitt.
Campbell-Pruitt said the fire started as a controlled burn on top of storm debris stored on a pile of mulch. She said the existing mulch pile generated heat, which ignited the debris.
Campbell-Pruitt said the debris remains from the severe summer storms that occurred this summer.
Campbell-Pruitt said the village may need to refocus how it addresses remaining debris from the summer storms. She said the village still has a lot debris.
Cook County recently announced a $8 million investment to toward supporting municipalities affected by the summer storms.
Campbell-Pruitt said she told attendees at the announcement there is no where left to put the debris. She said money from the county has yet to trickle down to the municipalities and instead has gone toward direct assistance.
Cook County offered the village a mechanism to address the leftover debris, she said, but it requires moving the debris to Ford Heights where there is equipment available.
“We are going to have to take a look because we all make mistakes. This mistake could have been costly,” Campbell-Pruitt said.