Fire consumes a hay barn at Kilgus Farms near Fairbury. Photo provided by The Fairbury Blade.

By Todd Wineburner

Kilgus farms was the site of a major fire yesterday (Wednesday) in Fairbury. Fairbury Assistant Fire Chief Martin Steidinger supervised activity at the site and says the contents of the barn were a total loss. The fire was reported at about 1:20 Wednesday, and eventually fire departments from Fairbury, Pontiac, Chenoa, Forrest, and Strawn were fighting the fire. No injuries or animal losses were incurred, and currently no dollar value has been placed on the loss. The barn was a frame structure with a flexible covering. Steidinger says Kilgus employees had to repair the steel frame of the building, and it's suspected that the torches used started the fire. The barn was filled to capacity to provide animal feed for the winter months. The Kilgus dairy farm is south of Fairbury and produces and markets a line of specialty milk products.