An explosion occurred Monday morning near Rockton, Illinois, at a Chemtool chemical plant.
Videos posted on social media show large black smoke and fire burning at the Chemtool plant.
According to the Rockton Police Department, a mandatory evacuation order is in effect for parts of the area.
“This notice affects all residents and business south of Chem Tool on Prairie Hill rd. Traffic is advised to avoid area,” the alert reads. “Please evacuate the area. Wait for further instructions.”
Chemtool is one of the largest grease manufacturers in the United States of America.
ROCKTON, Illinois — At approximately 7 a.m. today, local emergency personnel responded to a fire at the Lubrizol Corporation’s Chemtool Facility in Rockton, Ill. We have confirmed all on site are safe and accounted for. Our concern right now is for the safety of all our employees and the surrounding community. As a precaution, authorities have evacuated residents in a one-mile radius of the site.
We do not yet know what caused this incident, but we will be working with local authorities and with our own risk management team to determine what happened and identify any corrective actions. We will share more details as they are known.
We are grateful to our employees, first responders and safety forces responding to this incident.