MORRIS – The southeast section of Morris remains under an evacuation order, Morris Fire Protection and Ambulance District Chief Tracey Steffes said at a Thursday evening news conference.

The evacuation, which began Tuesday when a building containing nearly 200,000 pounds of lithium batteries at 919 E. Benton St. caught fire, was extended Wednesday to last until 9 p.m. Thursday.

Steffes said at the new conference that the order after the extended evacuation order is fulfilled, it will be addressed again at a news conference at noon Friday. The order affects about 3,000 Morris residents.

Steffes also said Thursday that three hot spots beneath the 28 tons of Portland cement dumped on the batteries Wednesday night were emitting smoke and vapors through the composite.

“We have been on the phone a lot with some professors from the University of Texas,” Steffes said. “They said we were on the right path and the cement will give us more time. They said the small hot areas need to run through their thermal time to burn out.”

Steffes also said that the Illinois EPA will be monitoring the air quality through the night, and a decision will be made Friday whether to shrink or eliminate the evacuated area, which currently is Route 47 east to Washington St and the Illinois River north to the railroad tracks. The most likely scenario would be to shrink it.

“I don’t see the evacuation being totally done tomorrow [Friday],” he said. “What we are most concerned about is the health and safety of our citizens.”

Morris Police Chief Alicia Steffes spoke of security during the evacuation.

“We have a lot of compassion for those that are displaced,” she said. “We are doing everything we can to keep the City of Morris and its citizens safe. There are several officers from other jurisdictions that are keeping the evacuation area secure. Our officers are still patrolling our streets, and, in fact, they are making the town more safe because the same amount of officers now have less area to patrol.

“Residents in the evacuation area can go home to get supplies. The best places to go are the intersections of Route 47 and either Benton, North or Washington Streets. Just show the officers there your ID and they will let you through to get into your home and get what you need.”

Tracey Steffes gave an update earlier Thursday afternoon on the fire.

Steffes said that between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Wednesday, crews on the scene put 28 tons of Portland cement on the batteries in the building that had already burned, hoping to smother them and extinguish the fire.

However, he said that he was in contact with a battery engineer in Texas who told him what to expect with lithium batteries.

“He said that there was something called thermal runaway that happens when these batteries get exposed to heat,” Steffes said. “Once that starts, there is no stopping it. It doesn’t even need oxygen to carry out the reaction. Because of that, we don’t want to go in and start trying to bring out batteries that haven’t burned because we don’t know what kind of heat they have been exposed to. Once they get up to about 300 degrees, that reaction can happen.”

Steffes said the cement was a bid to buy time while they continue to seek information and insight as to how to continue.

“We are trying to get more expertise from around the state and the nation,” he said. “I made one call to Barry Narvick of Narvick Redi-Mix here in town, and he had 28 tons of Portland cement on the way. It came in a big tanker truck that used compressed air to pump it out. We hooked up a 200-foot-long by 4-inch-wide hose and put [the cement] on top of the burning batteries. I hadn’t used Portland cement before, but I am a big fan of it now. It has bought us a lot of time.”

Steffes also said crews from D Construction in Coal City are digging a trench that will by 4 feet wide and 6 feet deep at the front of the building. The trench will catch any runoff if they have to apply any water to keep down any subsequent flare-ups. He said crews are still on the scene 24 hours a day to fight any flare-ups that may occur.

Air quality is being measured, and so far the reports have been good, Steffes said. Officials on hand also took water samples.

Steffes was uncertain how long the evacuation order will last, which is set to expire at 9 p.m. Thursday. He said whether it is extended will depend on the situation at the fire scene.

“We want to bring the people back to their homes,” Steffes said. “But we don’t want to move them into an area that is unsafe or move them in only to have to move them back out again if things change. A fireground is a living, breathing thing, and can injure or kill a firefighter or a civilian in the area at any time. We were told by the battery engineer that it wouldn’t be a good idea to go in and start removing batteries. I would not feel comfortable asking a contractor to go into a building we don’t know for sure is safe.”

Steffes said that once residents are able to return, they should wash anything that might have dust or debris from the smoke with water and soap.

“It’s basically just water and Dawn soap,” he said. “That’s what we have been using to hose down our equipment. There are a couple of playgrounds on that side of town, and we will use the fire trucks to give them a mass decontamination when the residents can return.”

Grundy County Health Department Administrator Michelle Pruim said the Illinois Department of Health, Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency all are looking into the possible effects on first responders that being near the smoke can cause.

“I don’t know exactly what the symptoms of exposure to this is,” she said. “We are going to have to check with state and federal authorities.”