Photos: Rockton (IL) Chemical Blast and Fire

June 14, 2021
ByFire Engineering Staff

Fire photographer Tim Olk offered some photos from the scene of a vast chemical fire burning Monday in Rockton, Illinois.

According to the Associated Press, an explosion at Chemtool Inc., a company that makes lubricants, grease products and other fluids, sparked fires and sent up massive plumes of black smoke that prompted evacuations.

One firefighter reportedly suffered a minor injury, and the fire brought firefighters from about 40 fire departments to the scene.

  • Rockton tower ladder at massive fire
  • Huge plumes of black smoke drift past multiple fire apparatus
  • Huge flames and smoke shoot into the sky with firefighters in the foreground
  • Boone aerial apparatus puts elevated stream on massive flames
  • Firefighters with Boone County fire truck with flames and smoke in background
  • Giant fireball shoots up above Rockton, Illinois
  • American flag in front of flames
  • Giant plumes of smoke show the scale of the incident with fire trucks in foreground
  • Rockton fire apparatus with vast plumes of heavy black smoke
  • Flames and smoke cloud the sky as fire trucks use portable water tanks
  • Harvard Fire Protection District apparatus in front of huge smoke cloud
  • Byron fire truck pumping with clouds of black smoke in background
  • Tower ladder flows water on burning building as black smoke rears up
  • Gigantic plumes of smoke drift through sky past fire trucks

MORE TIM OLK

Photos: Firefighters Respond to Fatal Lincolnwood (IL) House Fire

Photos: Danville (IA) House Fire

Photos: Chicago Firefighters Battle Flames in Multiple Homes

Photos: Chicago (IL) Firefighters Battle Structure Fire

FirefightingPhotos
#chemical plant#Hazmat#Illinois#industrial firefighting#industrial fires#Photos#Tim Olk

Must View

Hand entrapped in rope gripper

Elevator Rescue: Rope Gripper Entrapment

Mike Dragonetti discusses operating safely while around a Rope Gripper and two methods of mitigating an entrapment situation.
FeaturesFirefighter TrainingTechnical RescueTraining Minutes
Delta explosion

Two Workers Killed, Another Injured in Explosion at Atlanta Delta Air Lines Facility

Two workers were killed and another seriously injured in an explosion Tuesday at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Atlanta airport.
AP NewsFire EMSNews