Officials in the village of
Rockton, Ill., near the Wisconsin border, called for the evacuation of residents within a
mile of a fire Monday morning
at a chemical plant.
The Rockton Fire Protection
District received the call
around 7 a.m., said Chief Kirk
Wilson. He said the fire at the
Chemtool Inc. plant was already coming through the roof
when the first firetruck arrived but that the 70 employees at the plant had been
safely evacuated. One firefighter received a minor injury
and was sent to the hospital,
he said.
Mr. Johnson said the department was keeping the fire
BY JOE BARRETT
from spreading but wasn’t directly battling the flames to
prevent any runoff of chemicals from the plant into the
nearby Rock River.
The chief said the entire
plant had already been consumed by the flames, but it
could take several days for the
oil-based lubricants manufactured at the plant to be
burned off. He said the evacuation was suggested as a precaution and that air quality in
the area was safe.
Local media showed images
of huge flames and smoke and
posted shots of the smoke and
heat picked up on radar.
Lubrizol Corp., owner of the
Chemtool plant where the fire
began, said the cause wasn’t
known.