Seward, Ill.-Nearly everyone in this small Illinois town of nearly 300 residents was evacuated overnight from their homes on April 23 after 20 tons of anhydrous ammonia that was released accidentally from a farm supply center hovered over the town for several hours. Several residents were checked over at the local hospital, with one remaining for observation until the next day, according to Dennis Ross, general manager at Seward Agriculture Supply, where the release occurred. Ross explained that a hose burst on a semi-transporter while it was unloading into a storage tank. “It was late at night and there was very little wind. So the vapor cloud hugged the ground and spread over the town,” Ross reported. He said the evacuation went very well since “people listened, cooperated and got out of town when they were told to.” They were allowed back in their homes the next morning after spending the night at two high schools in the nearby towns of Winnebago and Pecatonica about eight miles away, or with friends or relatives.
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