News Local/State

UPDATE: Piper City Fire Out, No Chemicals Involved

 

The Thursday morning fire at a soybean plant in Ford County that lead to the evacuation of two city blocks has been extinguished. 

Officials in Piper City say residents were allowed back into their homes just after midday. 

Piper City Fire Chief Anthony Lane says that despite earlier reports, no chemicals were involved in the fire at the Precision Soya plant. 

A hazmat team was sent from Champaign as a precaution, and classes at a nearby school were cancelled due to pesticides containing aluminum phosphide which are stored at the facility. 

The Illinois State Fire Marshall and Illinois EPA continue to investigate the cause of the fire. 

Piper City is about 45 miles north of Champaign.