Peoria Evacuation Order Stays in Place as Police Say Search of Ethanol Plant Is Far From Done

Police in Peoria, Illinois, said on Saturday that the evacuation order covering parts of the city and neighbouring East Peoria could not yet be lifted, more than 17 hours after a bomb threat at the BioUrja Renewables ethanol plant forced residents within a one-mile radius from their homes.

Speaking at a noontime press conference, Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon said officers had not completed a search of the sprawling ethanol facility and he wanted to get people back to their homes, but the search had to come first. Dixon said the South Peoria plant covers an area of about 44 and a half football fields and has multiple levels. "This is about as difficult of a search as you can do," he said. "This is a viable threat and we do not want people in the blast area."

Police went door to door in the affected area to urge residents to leave, and by 7 a.m. on Saturday there were roughly 60 to 80 people sheltering at Manual High School. East Peoria, which also saw evacuations, had no one at its designated shelter, the EastSide Centre, the city said earlier in the day. Dixon said the shelter would likely have to move from Manual to another location so school can resume on Monday.

The threat was called into the plant at about 1 p.m. on Friday. About an hour later a suspicious package was found, and at 6:45 p.m. investigators determined it was a credible threat. Bomb technicians rendered a device safe at about 9:12 p.m., but officials stressed that neutralising the device did not mean the whole facility had been cleared. The evacuation order, covering a one-mile area officials called the "blast radius", was issued at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Officials from the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declined to comment on specifics at the press conference, though Dixon confirmed a device had been found and rendered safe. Mayor Rita Ali said she had never seen such an outpouring of support, with volunteers bringing food and water to the shelter at Manual High School. No arrests have been announced and no injuries have been reported. Dixon ended the 20-minute briefing by saying he expected an update from the search teams that entered the plant at about 7 a.m.