An explosion at a chemical plant in northern Illinois, US on June 14 caused a large fire and resulted in an evacuation order lasting for four days as firefighters fought the blaze. The incident happened at a plant belonging to Chemtool Inc., a lubricants and grease products manufacturer.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) said it had deployed two of its senior leadership to the scene and would engage with Federal, State and local emergency responders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others to determine the conditions and circumstances that led to the incident and to identify the cause or causes so similar incidents might be prevented. The CSB said that early assessments appeared to indicate that the incident was a fire event and not a chemical process safety event.
All 70 workers at the facility were evacuated without injury after emergency services were called to the scene at around 07:00 local time. One fire fighter suffered a minor injury and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. According to local news outlets, the plumes of smoke caused by the fire were so large that they were picked up by weather radars.
The mandatory evacuation order was lifted after four days on June 18 with residents able to return home and businesses allowed to re-open. The fire was expected to continue smouldering for several more days.
