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Piper City soybean plant fire under investigation

Posted September 13, 2013 7:49 am

Associated Press

PIPER CITY — A fire at a north-central Illinois soybean plant remains under investigation.

Authorities lifted a partial evacuation in the tiny village of Piper City on Thursday afternoon and classes are set to resume Friday at a nearby school district.

Officials shut down a section of the Ford County community near the facility after spotting smoke coming from the roof of the building.

No one was injured.

Investigators say they believe a chemical — aluminum phosphide — may have reacted with water from a leaking roof.

Dennis Higgins is Ford County’s Emergency Management Agency coordinator. He tells The (Champaign) News-Gazette that authorities were worried about poisonous fumes being released.

Piper City has about 830 residents and is about 45 miles north of Champaign.

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