Fire at Iowa plant prompts evacuations

A factory fire spewing what authorities initially believed was toxic smoke prompted evacuations Tuesday of homes and farms near this northern Iowa town.

Authorities later determined the smoke did not contain toxic chemicals, and no one was hurt, officials said.

The fire erupted in the afternoon at the Environmental Lubricants Manufacturing Inc. plant, which produces soybean-based grease. Plumes of thick black smoke spread across the area and could be seen as far as 30 miles away.

By late Tuesday afternoon, the blaze had destroyed the factory as firefighters tried to extinguish flames near a collapsed roof and charred, caved-in walls.

Authorities closed a highway as a precaution for about three hours, said Kip Ladage, Bremer County's emergency management coordinator.

Ladage said he was unsure how the fire started.

The fire devastated the facility but not the company's crucial inventory, which includes two large soy tanks outside the plant, said Jim O'Regan, the company's chief operating officer.

"The wind really drove the fire, but it kept the flames away from our soybean oil," he said.

The state Department of Natural Resources was investigating the potential environmental impact of chemicals that may have burned in the plant. Sand dikes were built around the site to contain any runoff, department officials said in a statement.

Plainfield, a town of about 438 just south of the plant, is about 100 miles northeast of Des Moines.