The fireworks weren't the only thing causing the "oohs" and "ahhs" last Friday night.

After the festive display, sparks from the fireworks landed in the prairie adjacent to Skoglund Athletic Center, causing the area to erupt in flames.

Coincidentally, the area in jeopardy was part of a prairie that the biology department scheduled to burn last Monday. Biology professor Gene Bakko was in charge of the burning project as part of his environmental studies seminar. He said the prairie was "ready to be burned," that the fire was "very healthy" for the area.

Mike Stowe, rescue squad captain for the Northfield Fire Department, indicated that although the area was scheduled to burn later in the week, the fire chief chose to extinguish it due to possible safety hazards. "Not knowing exactly what firebreaks they had in mind or available," Stowe said, "it was decided that because of the residents on the west side of burn area and the woods on the south side, we would put [the fire] out and they could re-burn whatever they needed to later.".

It took the 12-member squad just less than two hours to quench the flames. Stowe described the fire as "extremely typical."

Twelve acres were singed. The biology department plans to burn the remaining five as soon as weather conditions cooperate.

A car crash, spurred by the excitement of the fire, injured three people. Sources say Mary Lucile Hove, driving a Dodge Neon hit a parked car. Hove then struck two pedestrians, Joseph Shaw, 76, college historian, and his wife Mary Shaw, 68. The Neon collided with a Volvo before coming to a rest. An ambulance took driver Lynette Marie Swanson, 42, and the Shaws to the Northfield Hospital.