Lang
12/10/22
Marengo’s police chief says first responders had been unsuccessfully trying to determine which chemicals were stored at the site of an explosion that sent nearly a half-dozen people to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray told The Cedar Rapids Gazette that the owners of the C6-Zero plant failed to respond to the Marengo Fire Department’s inquiries in the weeks following a smaller fire at the facility on October 25th. C6-Zero recycles used asphalt shingles into biofuel.
Gray says firefighters worked until 4 a.m. Friday to extinguish Thursday’s fire. The blaze broke out following an explosion at the plant shortly after 11 a.m. Firefighters from Tiffin, Oxford, Coralville, Hills, Brooklyn and Grinnell were among those who arrived for mutual aid.
Residents near the plant were evacuated, and the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office advised people who live at a safe distance to stay indoors to avoid exposure to smoke. Evacuees were housed at the Marengo American Legion hall and the Iowa County Transportation building until it was deemed safe for them to return home.
Gray says five people were taken by ambulances to the UIHC and others were driven to hospitals in private vehicles. He did not have an exact count of the number of people injured and did not answer questions about what caused the explosion.
Iowa OSHA has announced that it is also investigating Thursday’s explosion.