4 min read
Major Takeaways
- Bomb technicians made the Peoria device safe late Friday night, and no one was hurt.
- The one mile evacuation still covers parts of Peoria and East Peoria on Saturday.
- The plant has not been cleared, and crews are still searching for other devices.
- No arrests have been made, and the FBI is helping hunt whoever planted the bomb.
Thousands of Peoria families woke up Saturday in shelters, hotel rooms, and the homes of relatives.
A real bomb found inside the BioUrja Renewables ethanol plant forced them out on Friday night.
The device is now safe. Their neighborhoods, for the moment, are still off limits.
Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon said the evacuation stays in place while crews search the plant.
The sprawling complex has not been cleared, and officials cannot yet say no other device waits inside.
How a Friday Afternoon Threat Became a Real Bomb
BioUrja called Peoria police at 1:08 p.m. Central on Friday and reported a bomb threat.
Officers found a suspicious package inside the plant at about 2 p.m. and called in bomb technicians.
By 6:45 p.m., investigators had decided the package was a credible threat and drew a one mile blast radius.
Evacuation orders went out at about 7 p.m. for homes and businesses all around the plant.
Bomb technicians rendered the device safe at 9:12 p.m., roughly eight hours after the first call.
Mayor Rita Ali left no room for doubt about what crews had found inside the plant.
“We know it is a credible threat. We know it is a bomb,” Ali said late Friday.
Dixon stressed that this call broke the usual pattern of threats that turn out to be empty.
“Typically, when a bomb threat comes in, it is not legitimate. This is not the case,” Dixon said.
Thousands Spent the Night Away From Home
Officials say more than 5000 residents and workers left the zone before the night was over.
The blast radius covers more than three square miles across Peoria and East Peoria.
Boat traffic on the Illinois River stopped, and bridges across the river closed to traffic.
Interstate 74 has reopened, but streets around the plant at 1 Edmund Street remain shut.
About 75 people spent the night at the shelter inside Manual Academy on South Griswold Street.
A second shelter opened at EastSide Centre in East Peoria, with the American Red Cross bringing in beds.
Dixon urged everyone in the zone to stay out until police say it is safe to return.
“Take the blast radius serious. We are asking you to get out of the blast radius,” Dixon said.
A Black Mayor Leading Her City Through the Scare
The face of the response belongs to Mayor Rita Ali, and that carries its own history.
Ali took office in 2021 as the first woman and the first African American mayor in Peoria history.
More than one in four Peoria residents is Black, in a city of about 110,000 people.
The neighborhoods that ring the riverfront plant sent families to those shelter cots on Friday night.
Congressman Eric Sorensen spent part of the night at the Manual Academy shelter with evacuees.
“If you are within the 1 mile radius of the chemical plant BioUrja in Peoria, you have to evacuate,” Sorensen said.
The Search and the Hunt Both Run Into Saturday
Dixon warned the work at the plant could stretch late into the weekend.
“It is a large facility. There is going to be an exhaustive search of the facility. That has not been completed yet,” Dixon said.
The response has drawn in the Peoria Fire Department and the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department.
Illinois State Police, the Illinois Secretary of State, the ATF, the Coast Guard, and Homeland Security are also on scene.
Governor J.B. Pritzker confirmed state police joined the response on Friday.
Ryan Presley, the special agent in charge of the FBI Springfield office, promised a relentless hunt.
“While it is early in the investigation, know this. We will work tirelessly to identify the individual responsible and bring them to justice,” Presley said.
Police have named no suspect, described no motive, and announced no arrests.
Officers also refused to confirm online rumors claiming additional devices had already been found.
Friday tested emergency crews across the country, from the nationwide ground stop that froze flights across America to the riverboat emergency on the Mississippi in New Orleans.
Peoria now waits on a search, a noon update from police, and one answer above all.
Who walked into that plant with a bomb, and why.
