CHICAGO (CBS)  – An EF0 tornado touched down during severe storms in Northern Illinois Tuesday night and destroyed a barn, the National Weather Service confirmed a day later.

The NWS said the tornado touched down northwest of Capron in Boone County and then crossed into northwest McHenry County.

The tornado was to blame for destroying a barn near Harvard, Illinois, about half a mile south of the Wisconsin state line.

At 2:35 p.m., the Harvard Fire Protection District was called to a livestock barn in the 10800 block of Weidner Road in unincorporated McHenry County outside Harvard – about half a mile south of the Wisconsin state line.

The two-story, 30-foot-by-50-foot barn collapsed. As seen from Chopper 2, the barn’s roof was on the ground, and the rest of the structure was reduced to a heap of broken boards and timbers.

The animals were all living on the lower level. When the barn collapsed, it created a void space on the lower level, which saved most of them, according to the Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts.

Firefighters successfully rescued 24 sheep, 18 goats, one cow, and several chickens and ducks. But four animals did die, and two remained unaccounted for late Tuesday. There were no reports of human injuries.

The NWS said the tornado proceeded into southern Wisconsin.

Another tornado is suspected to have touched down in LaPorte County, Indiana, Tuesday afternoon, but this tornado has not been confirmed.

The same storm system that hit the Chicago area Tuesday afternoon produced significant and destructive tornadoes in Western Michigan.

In Portage, Michigan, south of Kalamazoo, a strip mall housing a barbershop and a Pizza Hut was destroyed. A FedEx facility was also severely damaged, and people were trapped inside at one point, though everyone was safely evacuated, CBS affiliate WWMT-TV reported.

Crews searched the wreckage Wednesday to ensure no one was trapped in the rubble.

Within Kalamazoo, 16 to 20 people were injured after a tornado hit the Pavilion Estates mobile home park. Entire homes were destroyed, WWMT reported.

Kalamazoo County has declared a state of emergency.

A tornado also touched down Tuesday in St. Joseph County, Michigan. The area sustained significant tornado damage in its central, north central, and northeastern sections, WWMT reported. Two non-life-threatening injuries were blamed 

TAZEWELL COUNTY (25News Now) – Illinois State Police say one person is dead after a car versus pedestrian crash on Route 24.

The crash happened just after 5 a.m. Wednesday on Route 24 westbound at the intersection with Grosenbock.

State Police say one person was found dead in the roadway at the scene.

Westbound Route 24 is closed, as the investigation into the crash continues.

No further information has been released.

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O’FALLON, Il. (First Alert 4) – Four O’Fallon, Illinois police officers were honored at a city council meeting Monday night after they saved a disabled man from a burning building.

Sgt. Matt Plassman, Ptl. Chad Finnan, Ptl. Kenneth Morris, and Ptl. Michael Shewmaker were awarded the Meritorious Conduct Award for their acts of courage on March 25, when they entered a duplex that was on fire to carry a man out.

“The only thought process was that they are coming out,” Ptl. Finnan said. “Not how are we going to get them out. It’s they’re coming out. We’re getting them out.”

Patrolmen Finnan and Morris were first on the scene that night, shattering the glass door with a fire extinguisher to enter the home.

Two men were inside. One man was able to walk out, whereas his dad was in the bedroom.

“I mean seconds are minutes,” Ptl. Morris said.

As they searched for the paraplegic man, Ptl. Morris’ other training kicked in. As a volunteer firefighter, he knew how to stay as safe as he could, even without the proper gear.

“I did say to myself, ‘we need to stay down,” Ptl. Morris said. “We need to stay lower where there is fresher air so we’re not breathing in the smoke. Processing what gear I did have on at that point, I realized I didn’t have the airway protection. I didn’t have the heat protection so I knew we had to work quickly to get out of that residence before it deteriorated faster.”

“We put safety at the forefront of everything we do and every contact we have with the public,” Ptl. Finnan said.

While the award from the city council is meaningful, the officers said what they did is also what’s expected of them.

“We interact with people oftentimes on the worst days of their life and that’s a normal day for us,” Ptl. Finnan said. “It’s fantastic to be recognized for some of the stuff we do but this is stuff we do every day.”

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