Officials Were Unaware Old Paper Mill Housed Hazardous Materials

MORRIS, IL — After Morris residents within a 10-block radius of the old paper mill were evacuated after the facility housing lithium batteries caught fire, the mayor announced the city never received a licensing request for the business.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker dispatched the National Guard's civil support team to Morris after the fire required about 5,000 people to evacuate from near the 919 East Benton Street site.

Mayor Chris Brown said officials were unaware the building, which many thought was abandoned, was housing an estimated 100 tons of lithium batteries. Brown said at a news conference Wednesday that lack of information on the contents of the building led to firefighters attacking the fire with water and other water-based products, which in turn made the blaze worse.

Fire Chief Tracey Steffes said in a Tuesday evening press conference there are around 180,000 to 200,000 pounds of lithium batteries in the building, which is currently being used as a warehouse by a company that manufactures batteries. Steffes said he would "liked to have known" the company was storing hazardous materials, but is not sure if they can be punished for not informing officials.

Since lithium reacts with water to form hydrogen gas, emergency responders tried to tackle the smoke using anti-fire foam spray. Around 1:20 p.m., Morris fire officials said they put out a call over Northern Illinois scanners for "as many foam units as possible." After input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Morris Fire Protection District decided to let the fire burn out on its own to the volatile nature of lithium batteries when they get wet.

While Steffes said the scale of this fire is not comparable to the recent Rockton chemical fire, there are some resources in the area leftover from the Rockton incident that have made it easier to get a hold of environmental groups and air quality monitoring tools.

"We're going to be here for the long haul," Steffes said. "This isn't gonna go away tonight and we're gonna be out here tomorrow for sure."

The fire chief said an employee from the company, which he said is called Superior Battery, was on the scene earlier Tuesday and gave him information on what was inside the building since fire crews have not been able to get inside yet. According to Steffes, lithium batteries ranging in size from cell phones to small cars along with some old electronics are inside. The electronics appear to be what is causing the black smoke, he said.

"It could've been a lot worse than it is," he said, before explaining the department's next approach would be to dump dry materials such as rock salt on top of the batteries.

The fire chief said air quality testing had been done, but immediate results only told officials what they already knew — particulates are in the air. Specific test results can take as long as 48 hours, the Illinois EPA said.

Tracey Steffes said residents do not need to call to ask whether they should evacuate if they live in an area where smoke is physically bothering them.

"If your eyes are burning and you can smell it or see it, your body's telling you it's something that you shouldn’t be around and you need to move," he said.

The fire began about around noon, according to reports from WCSJ. Those in need of a place to go can gather at the Grundy County administration building at 1320 Union Street.

Police Chief Alicia Steffes estimated about 1,000 homes were evacuated. Fire personnel are trying to get an exact headcount. Hazmat teams are already on the scene and no injuries have been reported.