Wauconda Illinois USA-1968: Firefighters Fight Losing Battle To Extinguish Empty Warehouse

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1968
Decade1960s
LocationWauconda, Illinois, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1968 Wauconda Illinois

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Firefighters Fight Losing Battle To Extinguish Empty... — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1968, this archival footage captures a dramatic fire at an industrial warehouse in Wauconda, Illinois. Flames engulf the wooden structure, casting an intense orange glow against a dark, smoky sky. A firefighter in a vintage uniform stands in the foreground, observing the inferno as thick smoke billows. The scene conveys urgency and loss, with the fire consuming the empty building. The grainy, color-bleached quality of the Super 8 film enhances its authentic, nostalgic feel. This raw, unedited home movie offers a powerful glimpse into a historical emergency, ideal for documentaries, editorial content, or historical storytelling.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 124336276

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip. Review the flags below for your editorial context.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: Yes
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel 1137 · 8mm · 7″ reel
Original reel label: barn building darrell rd
Reel-level year note: 1968
Reel-level location note: illinois
Date: 1968 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: Wauconda, Illinois, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: 1960s 8mm emergency footage suited to documentary inserts about small-town firefighting, industrial fires, public safety response, or destructive loss in Wauconda, Illinois.
Period detail: The clip may show late-1960s firefighting practice through hose streams, helmeted firefighters, and an industrial wooden structure seen burning at night or dusk.
Home-movie behavior: The camera observes from a bystander distance, preserving the unsettled, handheld perspective of a local witness watching firefighters battle a warehouse fire.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include heavy flames, smoke, water spray, a damaged warehouse roofline, dark foreground edges, and at least one firefighter near the burning structure.
Film character: The 8mm image has strong grain, soft focus, color bleed, uneven exposure, and handheld framing that give the emergency scene a physical home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a short insert, transition, or cutaway for fire response, industrial loss, local history, or community emergency sequences.
Historical context: The footage visually documents a local fire response at an empty warehouse without proving cause, ownership, injuries, or wider civic impact beyond what is shown.
Research note: People and possible signage or identifiable marks are flagged, so copyright, likeness, and any property or trademark concerns should be reviewed separately.
Research search match: Useful search phrasing includes 1968 Wauconda Illinois warehouse fire, 8mm firefighters, vintage fire hose, small-town inferno, and home movie emergency footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent same-reel fire footage, then other Wauconda or 1968 Illinois material, then broader 1960s firefighting and industrial disaster scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

1968 Wauconda warehouse fire footage showing orange flames, smoke, and a pale hose stream through soft 8mm framing. — Flames burn through the warehouse as water spray cuts across the smoky scene.

Burning warehouse structure in Wauconda, Illinois, with flames, smoke, and firefighting water spray visible in 8mm color footage. — The warehouse glows with fire while smoke and water spray obscure parts of the structure.

A firefighter in dark gear stands before the burning Wauconda warehouse as flames and smoke fill the 8mm frame. — A firefighter watches from the foreground as the warehouse fire intensifies behind him.

Firefighters direct water onto a burning warehouse in Wauconda, Illinois, with roof flames and smoke visible in 1968 8mm footage. — A strong hose stream arcs onto the warehouse as flames spread along the roofline.

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