NORTH PEKIN, Ill. (AP) -- A fire and explosion at a central Illinois gas company injured three men Thursday and caused the evacuation of nearby homes and businesses.
Fire crews from around Tazewell County reported to Hicksgas in North Pekin after reports of an explosion around 9:30 a.m., Pekin fire dispatcher Abby Hobbs said. The fire was still burning three hours later, although officials said it was under control.
''It was loud, and the yellow fireballs _ it just went boom, boom, boom,'' John House, whose business is located across the street from Hicksgas, told the (Pekin) Daily Times.
Officials ordered the evacuation of homes and businesses within half a mile of the company, which sells propane gas and grills, Hobbs said.
''They're being removed from any area that could possibly be a danger zone,'' Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston told the newspaper.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, Huston said. Investigators could not begin working on a cause until the fire was out and the site was safe.
Two of the injured men were transported to the burn unit at Memorial Hospital in Springfield, which typically only occurs when injuries are serious or critical, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center spokesman Chris Lofgren said. The third was admitted to OSF Saint Francis, but his condition was not immediately available.
Lofgren said he did not know if the injured men worked at the gas company. A spokeswoman at Memorial Hospital said she did not have the conditions of the men because they had not yet been admitted.
Route 29 in North Pekin was closed near the company and a hazardous materials team from OSF Saint Francis was sent to the scene to decontaminate individuals who might have been exposed to chemicals, Lofgren said.
No one answered at a telephone listing for Hicksgas.
