Morris: Toxic and smoke smoke from a former paper factory that caught in North Illinois which was believed by officials had long been abandoned but actually contained a large number of lithium batteries encouraged officials to extend the evacuation order to the area.
The fire which began in Morris in the middle of Tuesday prompted city officials to order evacuation of 3,000-4,000 people around 950 nearby houses, schools, churches and small businesses.
The fire continued to burn Thursday morning around 70 miles (115 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, and citizens now will not be allowed to return home until 9pm, officials said.
The previous order was ending at 9pm Wednesday.
The lithium battery has exploded inside the building and fire officials said they decided to let the fire burn because they were afraid to try to put out it could trigger more explosions.
Buildings – To surprise the Fire Department and other city institutions – are being used to store nearly 100 tons of lithium batteries range from cellphone batteries to large car batteries.
Mayor Chris Brown said that the city did not know the building was used to save the battery to burn, and that he knew a little about superior batteries, the company had it.
The company’s representative was not invited to Wednesday’s press conference on fire, officials said.
The mayor said the police department would conduct an investigation of battery storage and that other institutions, including the Marshal of state fires and the Office of Attorney General Illinois, had been contacted.
The Morris fire came two weeks after the explosion and major fire at the chemical factory near Rockton, an illinois city along the border of Wisconsin, forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes for several days.
No one in the factory or the surrounding community was injured by the June 13 fire which was then determined by officials then began accidentally during maintenance work.