Two hospitalized after ammonia explosion in Elk Grove
An ammonia explosion extensively damaged an Elk Grove Village food processing plant Friday morning, injuring two people, fire department officials say.
The blast occurred about 7 a.m. at Grecian Delight Foods at 1201 Tonne Road and blew out parts of the north and west outer walls, Fire Chief Richard Mikel said. Hazmat workers stopped the leaking chemical several hours later, but investigators have not determined what cause a significant amount of ammonia to build up and explode.
“There's a tremendous amount of damage in the building,” Mikel said.
A female employee was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village with burns, Mikel said. She is not considered to have life-threatening injuries. A hazmat worker was later transported to the hospital with injuries also not considered life-threatening.
Although about 100 employees were in the building, no one was near the explosion because that section of the building is under construction, Mikel said.
“The location probably did help us, and the time of day helped us,” he said. “We are very fortunate that we only have two injuries.”
The blast also cause a water main in front of the building to break.
After an hourslong closure, Tonne Road between Touhy Avenue and Landmeier Road reopened to through traffic in the late afternoon, police said.
Fran Somenek, a longtime village resident who lives across from the plant, was eating breakfast when the explosion shook her house. At first, she thought part of an airplane from nearby O'Hare International Airport had hit her roof.
“The whole house shook,” she said. “Just literally everything shook.”
Industrial buildings to the east were evacuated because wind blew in that direction. Lee Erbach, a manager at Shell Lubricants located southeast of the food processing plant, said he evacuated workers. The smell caused a burning sensation in workers' noses and throats, he said.
“The smell in the warehouse had gotten so strong that we chose to get out,” Erbach said.
Bob Toon, who lives about a block from the food processing plant, heard the explosion while parked in his driveway. The explosion rattled and shook his vehicle, he said.
“With all those clouds rolling in, I actually thought it was a big thing of thunder,” Toon said, referring to a rain squall that swept through the Northwest suburbs about the same time, producing some hail.
Toon has lived in the village for 40 years. He said living near the largest industrial park in North America has its risks but the neighborhood is mostly quiet.
“Just being this close, you never know,” Toon said.
Daily Herald staff writer Lee Filas contributed to this report.