Five Fire Departments Called to Rodely Farms East of Du Quoin

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A daybreak fire at Rodely Farms east of Du Quoin Tuesday destroyed a 60-by-144 foot storage barn and its contents that included four large Steiger tractors, a combine, tillage equipment and two antique Oliver tractors.

No cause has been determined as the investigation begins. There is nothing suspicious about the fire. Firefighters from Du Quoin, Christopher, Sesser, Tamaroa, and Coello responded. Rural fire protection tankers ferried water from a hydrant on Davisville Road east of Du Quoin.

The farms are operated by Brian and Bruce Rodely as a family partnership. The loss is insured. Brian Rodely said there was so much equipment in the building "you couldn't hardly walk around."

The Rodelys are historically one of the most disciplined, hardest working families in Du Quoin. Brian both works and farms. "We've all got four or five jobs," he said.

Rodely said he and Bruce were more than halfway through the spring planting season. "We had all of the corn in and about half of the beans," he said.

A sister Denise Woodsides and her husband were living on the home place when the fire broke out. The storage building is some distance from the home and no surrounding buildings were damaged in the huge fire. The building was fully involved when firemen arrived.

Neighbors say muffled explosions in the barn rattled houses nearly a half-mile away.

Tractors were burned-tires completely melted away from the machines-and expensive tillage equipment sat in ruin beneath tons of sheet metal that fell onto everything.

Du Quoin firefighters enlisted a City of Du Quoin backhoe to separate sheet metal and uncover some of the burned equipment. Firemen were dousing spot fires until about 9:30 a.m.