The company has confirmed all of their workers are safe and accounted for. "They are a huge employer in town and it's going to affect a lot of families," said Chief Wilson. The investigation not the latter complaint remained under way as of Monday. "I know that there's debris, and you know, anything that's blowing in the air could be a concern."Ĭhemtool employs 125 people at the Rockton plant, which has been hit with two different occupational safety and health administration complaints – one in 2013 and the other just last month. We don't know where it's going," Ross said. "And I'm like, a split second later, I knew that it was a fire."įifteen whole hours later, Ross and his family were still watching what was in the air over their home. "I thought it was a black cloud for the moment, but there was blue surrounding it," he said. "There's a million things different, you know, go through your head."Įric Ross also woke Monday to find a plume of smoke in the air. Hoping that a million jobs aren't wrecked in the recovery of this whole entire thing," Oswald said. "Hoping that everybody across the street was safe. Yeah this is 30 miles out on 90 /n6aKQmXFXZ- Brandon Merano June 14, 2021
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Luckily, one of our neighbors, when they formally evacuated, he was able to get back in our house and grab our dog, and get him to the boarders for us until we get our bearings and figure out what we're doing." My girls and I were just getting ready to start our day, and he went outside and saw it, and we all just got out of the house as soon as possible," she said. He had just gotten out of the shower and ready for work. And then just all the black smoke coming in across the back of our house. "We heard a bunch of sirens, and then we opened up our sliding glass door above the river, and you could just hear explosion after explosion after explosion. Lindsey Oswald, of nearby South Beloit, was getting her family ready for the day, when she heard the explosions and left. The explosions and fire left many alarmed. c/o Lindsey Oswald /DP5rX4c8My- Marie Saavedra June 14, 2021 Evacuation orders in place for anyone within a mile of the building. The scene of this morning's explosion at the Chemtool plant in Rockton, seen by neighbors off Fischer Road in South Beloit. "I assure you that there is no danger at ground level at the plant, but just for a precautionary measure, we decided that it was in the best interests of community safety that we evacuated the area," he said. Wilson said crews also have been conducting air quality tests, and have determined there is no danger to air quality at ground level. So we stopped water operations at this point." "The main thing is that we don't want an environmental nightmare to occur, and the reason that we would cause that is by the use of water streams. "That's the best thing that we can do right now," Wilson said. Wilson said it could take a matter of days for the fire to completely burn itself out. Meanwhile, Rockton Fire Chief Kirk Wilson said crews are letting the fire burn itself out, rather than pouring any more water on it, out of concern about chemical runoff into the nearby Rock River. Sandra Martell also said anyone within three miles of the fire should wear a face mask when outdoors.
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Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Dr. Others said they would rent a hotel room for the night or stay with family.