DeKALB – DeKalb firefighters extinguished a large brush fire Wednesday before it damaged any surrounding buildings.

DeKalb Fire Capt. Don Faulhaber said it took more than 1,000 gallons of water to control the fire, which started Wednesday afternoon in a field behind the Tegrant Corp. building at 1401 Pleasant St. The fire caused large clouds of smoke that at one point were visible from about a mile away.

Faulhaber said officials were not sure how the fire started and would continue to survey the field and douse hot spots to prevent another flare up.

He said with the hot temperatures, it was fortunate the fire did not spread to the Tegrant building or the nearby Veolia Transportation building.