said the pilot had been practicing for an air show the next week in the Czech Republic. One eyewitness stated, "He started doing an outside roll ... and when he got to the top of the roll something went wrong; he stalled or something. He started coming down, and I lost him behind some trees. Then I heard a thump―not an explosion, just a loud thump―and I knew what'd happened." Red Barn A longtime landmark just north of Bethalto was an old barn at the intersection of Culp Lane and Bethalto Road, known to residents as simply "the red barn". On July 26, 2012, the owner of the barn was spraying insecticides inside the barn to kill wasps. After spraying for wasps, the owner left and at some point a fire broke out. Fosterburg, Bethalto and Brighton volunteer fire departments responded to the blaze, but it was too late to save the structure. It was believed the barn had been there for around a hundred years. Often, residents would give directions based on the red barn. Governance Bethalto was incorporated in 1869 under a special charter, and later incorporated again in 1873 under Illinois general law. The village is governed by an elected village president and a board of village trustees, who are elected at-large. Geography Bethalto is located in northwestern Madison County at (38.904197, -90.046579). It is east of Alton, northwest of Edwardsville, the county seat, and north-northeast of St. Louis. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bethalto has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.63%, are water. Most of the village drains west to the East Fork of the Wood River, a southwest-flowing direct tributary of the Mississippi River. The east part of the village drains east to Indian Creek, a south-flowing tributary of Cahokia Creek, which joins the Mississippi in Hartford. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 9,454 people, 3,810 households, and 2,647 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 4,007 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.84% White, 0.76% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.00% of the population. There were 3,810 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18