Three workers are missing and four were injured after an explosion rocked a manufacturing plant outside Chicago late Friday.
The explosion took place at AB Specialty Silicones, a plant that produces the raw ingredients for manufacturing silicone, in Waukegan, Illinois, at about 9:30 p.m. local time. The blast created a huge fire and rattled homes for miles — even across the border in southern Wisconsin.
Firefighters arrived and immediately began treating four workers on the scene for unspecified injuries. The four were taken to local hospitals, including two transported to Advocate Condell and two to Vista East. Two other people on scene refused medical attention.
Workers told firefighters that nine people were in the building at the time of the explosion and three were still unaccounted for at 5 a.m. local time, according to Waukegan Fire Marshall Steven Lenzi.
Sir Please find the footage from my outdoor cam pic.twitter.com/YgIdWPaeTG
Structural collapse teams were searching the location for the missing workers.
County crews were called in for help due to the size of the fire and due to the hazardous materials. Lenzi said in excess of 100 personnel were involved in putting out the fire and securing the scene.
Lenzi said 90 percent of the main building was destroyed and there was damage, estimated at $1 million, to five buildings on the property. All of the buildings were manufacturing related.
No homes were damaged in the explosion and no civilians were hurt.
Fire, police, and paramedic personnel are working diligently at this scene. Again, please stay out of the area and let the first-responders work. Additional information regarding the explosion and fire will be released by Waukegan officials as the details become available. pic.twitter.com/RtA7MjTVxt
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of all involved in this horrific incident,” Lenzi said in a statement. “Our personnel worked tirelessly through the night to control this scene with help from many neighboring agencies. This was a very large scale team effort.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office told residents it was aware of the “very loud explosion sound” and “ground shaking,” but deferred questions to the Waukegan Fire Department.
Lenzi said early Saturday it was too early to speculate on what might have caused the explosion.
Waukegan is about 10 miles south of the Wisconsin-Illinois border and 45 miles north of downtown Chicago.
