Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal November 16, 2017 Volume 155, Number 30 - $1.00
Cardinals Roll
Business Tour
Headed to Le-Win
The Forreston Cardinals football team rolls by Princeville and into Saturday’s semifinals. B1
Japanese businessmen check out what Rochelle has to offer. A7
Forreston travels to Lena-Winslow on Saturday to see who will go to the final four in 1A. B1
Leaf River firefighter dies in house fire By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com At least 300 people turned out Sunday evening for to honor a young Leaf River firefighter who died when his family’s home was destroyed in a fire early Friday morning. Greg Wood, 19, was remembered at a candlelight vigil by the firefighters from departments across northern Illinois, as well as family, friends, and local residents, who filled the front driveway at the Leaf River Fire Station. Wood was pronounced dead at the scene of the 12:40 a.m. fire at 209 W. Second St., Leaf River, just a block from the fire station. Two members of his family remain hospitalized for treatment of serious injuries suffered in the fire. His father, Marcus Wood, 43, who is the deputy chief of the Leaf River Fire Department, was listed in fair condition Tuesday in the burn unit at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, and his younger brother Travis, 16, a cadet firefighter, is in good condition at Mercyhealth Hospital, Rockford.
Greg Wood
His mother Nicole, an EMT on the department, was transported by ambulance to Mercyhealth, where she was treated and released. The family’s dog also perished in the blaze. Fire Chief Steve Shelton said Monday morning that the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigation, the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department are conducting the investigation. Investigators said the fire is not considered suspicious. Shelton, who lives across the street from the Wood home, said he was awakened at about 12:40 a.m. on Friday when members of the Wood family pounded on his door for help. At that point, he said, the entire front of the two-story frame house was in flames.
Officers from the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigations duck under the yellow tape cordoning off the house where Leaf River firefighter Greg Wood, 19, died in a fire early Friday morning. Photo by Vinde Wells
Fifteen area fire departments responded with mutual aid. This is the first time the Leaf River Fire Department has suffered the loss of a firefighter in a fire, Shelton said, and the entire department is devastated. “I’m at a loss for words,” Shelton said. “He was a fine
young man. He cared about the community and was there when we needed him.” “I just want to ask everyone to keep this family and the fire department in their prayers,” he said. Neighboring fire departments have been covering Leaf River’s fire calls since Friday and will
continue to do so for the next few days. “The overwhelming support has just been phenomenal,” Shelton said on Monday. Both Marcus and Greg also volunteered for the German Valley Fire Department.
A Forreston teenager died early Monday morning in a single vehicle crash in Carroll County. Drew Crase, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash approximately a half mile north of the intersection of Ill. 72 and Ill. 73, about four miles north of Lanark. Carroll County Sheriff Jeff Doran said a car driven by Crase was southbound on The crowd at a vigil Sunday evening holds their candles high in tribute to Greg Wood. Ill. 73 when it travelled off the east side of the road and Photo by Vinde Wells
into a ditch where it struck a driveway culvert causing it to become airborne. The car came to rest upside down in a pond on the south side of the driveway. Crase was the car’s only occupant. The crash was reported at 12:40 a.m. The crash remains under investigation. Assisting the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department at the scene were the Carroll County Coroner, Ogle County Sheriff’s Department,
Forreston Police Department, Shannon Fire Department, Lanark Fire Department, and the Byron Fire Department dive team. A candlelight vigil will be held in memory of Crase Wednesday evening, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at the outside basketball courts at Forreston Junior and Senior High School. The school will be providing candles for those in attendance and parents are encouraged to attend with their student.
He said he and his son Aaron, also a firefighter, immediately went to the fire station. When they arrived back on the scene with a firetruck, the house was totally engulfed. “Basically there were flames coming from every window of the house,” he said.
Forreston teen dies in automobile accident
Oregon City Council takes no action on closing Sixth Street By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Although the Oregon City Council took no action Tuesday on an agenda item concerning the closing of a block of South Sixth Street, local residents had plenty to say. The council met in closed session for 25 minutes to discuss an intergovernmental agreement with Ogle County concerning the 100 block of South Sixth. The county board has proposed building a new county jail on property it owns there. They requested that the
city council close the block to allow the new jail to be connected to the existing judicial center across the street. Anne Jones told the board that she expected the council would take action to close the street, which she described as “the death knell for Sixth Street.” “Think about five years from now,” she said. “You’re going to think ‘what have we done?’” She said the property the county owns on Pines Road would be a better location for both the jail and a new judicial center. The judicial center, completed in 2005, could
In This Week’s Edition...
Cards Playoffs Fever
be sold, Jones said, and converted into housing for senior citizens. Cindy Enzler also protested the South Sixth Street location of the jail as well as its size. “It’s too big,” she said. “It’s absolutely too big.” Enzler said that if the Pines Road property is in a flood plain, as has been discussed, the county could create a wetland there and find another location for the jail. Marine Kuethe and Marlene Hobbs also voiced their dislike for the South Sixth Street location. The city council rejected Turn to A2
Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
Turn to A3
Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3-B4
Owen Mulder, age 12, of Forreston wore this impressive lighted head wear to show his support for the Cardinals during their Nov. 11 playoff game against Princeville. Story and photos appear on B1. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Deaths, B4 John A. Axelson, Elizabeth J. Deuth, Pete M. Dinsmoor, Ronald Erdman
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com