A chemical company off of Route 24 in Mapleton had a fire Thursday afternoon that garnered a sizable initial response. LANXESS, the company that purchases Chemtura earlier this year, works with volatile chemicals. It sits along the portion of Route 24 sometimes referred to locally as chemical alley.
Peoria County Sheriff Chief Deputy Joe Needham says they got the call about 2:00 p.m. and Timber Hollis Fire Department responded.
The volunteer fire department historically has maintained training to handle the hazardous material response.
Needham says it seems they were able to knock down the fire and stabilize the situation fairly quickly.
The initial call for enacting the mutual aid emergency service agreement included a description of the chemical intermediate or additive in question as something that would, "burn with oxygen and blow with water." The precautionary call for additional was eventually cancelled.
This is the same facility that had a malfunction in the loading dock area about four years ago. That resulted in an explosion and fire that essentially shut down a three or four-mile area around the facility.
Employees of the neighboring Evonik Industries facility were also evacuated as a precautionary measure. They were allowed to return within an hour after the initial fire call.