Geneva factory explosion leads to chemical fire, evacuations
Nobody was injured after an explosion and chemical fire Tuesday afternoon at a factory in Geneva that drew scores of firefighters and a hazmat team.
Geneva Fire Chief Mike Antenore said firefighters arrived at Olon Industries at 1:33 p.m. Workers told them there had been an explosion in the chemical storage building at the site.
Olon Industries makes laminate products used in furniture building. The fire drew firefighters from several suburbs to the industrial facility at the dead end of Union Street. Crews used an aerial ladder truck to douse the flames from above.
It was later determined to be a chemical fire, prompting a hazardous materials response.
"Fire personnel took appropriate actions to control the chemicals being released and extinguished the fire at 4:25 p.m.," Antenore said in a news release Tuesday night. "There is no known hazard to the community at this time."
But people were evacuated from nearby Wheeler Park, the Geneva Township Senior Center and Geneva Park District offices as a precaution, he said. Factory employees had already evacuated after alarms went off.
Antenore said the damage was contained to a 16-by-16-foot storage facility to the rear of the factory.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration also responded, an agency spokeswoman confirmed. The company has had no history with OSHA for the past 10 years, according to the spokeswoman.
The Geneva Public Works Department disconnected the electric supply to the factory building. The city's water supply did not appear to be affected by the explosion, officials said, though Antenore told ABC 7 the state Environmental Protection Agency and others were on the scene to assess it.
Firefighters from Batavia, St. Charles, Elburn, North Aurora, Sugar Grove, Aurora, Montgomery, West Chicago, Fermilab, Sugar Grove, Elgin, Carol Stream, South Elgin, and Bartlett assisted.
• Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.