A man was found outside Station 29 at 56560 Highway 371 in Anza in the rural southwest portion of the county just before midnight, Deputy Michael Vasquez said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  

There were no known witnesses, Vasquez said. The man had injuries, but a cause of death had not been established.

Investigators have not ruled out that the homicide was somehow related to the scores of illegal marijuana growing operations nearby, Vasquez said. The Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday searched more than 100 properties and seized what appeared to be thousands of marijuana plants.

Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald said there have been equipment issues.  

Last fall, a pumper truck was hit and is waiting for insurance to fix it. In January, another truck had a part break. And most recently, the brakes went out

But the Menomonee Falls Professional Firefighters Local 3879 President Kevin Myers said this is not surprising when equipment repairs and replacements are delayed.

Des Plaines motorcycle police officer Mike Banner was stationed at Lee Street and Fargo Avenue across from Lake Park on Friday afternoon, May 25, 1979. He was using a police radar gun to clock the speed of passing cars. Anyone over the 25 mph limit could be ticketed. Banner was facing directly west.  

“I saw the black smoke go up,” said Banner referring to a scene he thought unusual because it was not coming from the normal spot where O’Hare firefighting drills were staged. He immediately radioed police headquarters to report a possible plane crash.

“I was kind of the first responder on the scene,” explained Banner, mainly because he was stationed only about a mile from the crash site. A Des Plaines fire truck, on a call near Lake Park at the time, raced past Lee Street and Banner in a westbound direction heading for the plume of thick, black smoke.

“I got there seconds before they did,” Banner remembered explaining that he overtook the fire rig. “They were the first fire crew on the scene, but they never got the credit."

The motorcyclist was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries and two firefighters were transported with non-life threatening injuries.  

The crash closed eastbound Collins Avenue at Wanda Road and northbound Prospect Street at Bond Avenue.