May 10--PONTIAC -- An overnight fire in Pontiac destroyed a building at the Evergreen FS facility, 1505 N. Aurora St. No injuries were reported.
Surrounding neighbors were evacuated around 4 a.m. Saturday because of concerns of airborne chemicals. Pontiac Fire Lt. Brett Graves said the building held fertilizer, pesticides and numerous chemicals.
About 20 evacuees spent several hours at the Pontiac Rec Center until they were allowed to return home, a rec center employee said.
The fire, which remains under investigation, was reported at 3:21 a.m. Pontiac Fire Department received assistance from Cornell, Cullom, Fairbury, Flanagan, Forrest, Saunemin and Odell firefighters.
Bloomington Fire Department's hazardous materials unit monitored water runoff for contaminants, said Bloomington Capt. Jeff Flaherty.
Mark Weichmann, 1415 N. Aurora St., lives three houses down from the FS facility.
"I was sleeping but my wife heard a really loud explosion around 3:30 a.m.," he said.
Weichmann said heavy flame and thick black smoke rose from the facility, which is surrounded by large chemical tanks.
"The smoke went straight up," he said. "What wind there was, was blowing to the north and took most of the chemicals that were burning away from houses in the neighborhood,"
The plant sits at the end of a densely populated neighborhood.
"We're just very fortunate the wind was blowing to the north," Weichmann said.
The last firefighters left the scene at 10:40 a.m., Graves said.
The city-owned rec center is commonly used as an evacuation center, although mostly for weather-related problems. The Pit Stop restaurant provided biscuits and gravy for Saturday's evacuees, and the center provided coffee and doughnuts from Pfaff's bakery.
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