A Friday afternoon call about a suspicious package at an ethanol plant on the Illinois River turned into one of the largest evacuations Peoria has seen in years. By nightfall, thousands of residents had been told to leave their homes, a major interstate was closed, and the mayor was telling reporters the threat was no hoax.
The Peoria bomb threat centers on BioUrja Renewables, the ethanol and alcohol production plant that used to be run by ADM. The facility sits at 1 Edmund Street, and the order to clear out covered an area stretching into both downtown Peoria and the riverfront section of neighboring East Peoria.
How the Peoria bomb threat unfolded
The timeline is fairly clear. Police Chief Brad Dixon said BioUrja contacted the Peoria Police Department at about 1:08 p.m. Friday to report that the company had received a bomb threat. Officers and bomb technicians went to the plant, and for several hours the picture stayed murky.
It was in the early evening that things escalated. By 6:45 p.m., authorities had decided the package was a credible threat and set up a one-mile evacuation radius around the facility. Anyone living or working inside that circle was asked to leave. Peoria police described the move as a precaution while officers searched the plant and tried to establish how serious the threat was.
Later that night, Mayor Rita Ali dropped any ambiguity. At 11 p.m. she told the public that a device had been identified, adding that officials considered it a credible threat and knew it was a bomb, though they could not say whether more devices existed. Earlier, she had been just as direct with local broadcaster WMBD, saying the threat was real and not something to take lightly.
State Sen. David Koehler echoed that urgency at the same briefing. “This is not a hoax,” he said, urging people to get out of the area that night.
Who is affected: the evacuation zone
The order is a mandatory, one-mile blast radius around the plant. It works out to roughly one square mile, and it takes in parts of downtown Peoria along with the riverfront in East Peoria. Everyone working inside the plant was also cleared out.
East Peoria Mayor John Kahl said the city was treating the situation as a credible threat. Fire departments from both cities, sheriff’s deputies, local police and the Illinois State Police all pitched in to move people out safely.
Residents who had nowhere to go were pointed to two shelters:
- Manual Academy, 811 S. Griswold St., Peoria. The Red Cross is on site there to help evacuees.
- EastSide Centre in East Peoria, which city officials designated as the shelter on that side of the river.
Anyone who can’t leave without help has a specific option. Chief Dixon said those people should call Peoria Police for assistance.
Road closures and travel: I-74 shut down
The disruption reached well beyond the evacuation zone. Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins asked people to stay away from downtown Peoria and the East Peoria riverfront, and said I-74 was closed in both directions through the city, recommending I-474 as the bypass.
There has been some relief on that front. Chief Dixon later said I-74 had reopened, though many roads close to the BioUrja facility remain blocked. If you are driving through central Illinois this weekend, plan on detours around the riverfront and check local updates first.
State and federal agencies join the response
The scale of the response reflects how seriously officials are treating it. Gov. JB Pritzker directed the Illinois State Police to assist with the investigation. The Department of Homeland Security was also reported to be in Peoria helping with the bomb threat.
The device has been made safe, but the area is not cleared
Here is the most important update so far. Chief Dixon said the explosive device found Friday has been rendered safe, but the BioUrja facility itself has not been declared safe. One local outlet reported the device was disabled at around 9:12 p.m.
That is why the evacuation continues. Dixon urged residents and businesses to keep taking the order seriously even with the device neutralized. Investigators are still checking the plant and surrounding area for anything else.
Dixon also pointed out how unusual this case is. Most bomb threats that come in are not legitimate, he noted, which makes a genuine device a rare and alarming exception. As for who was behind it, authorities say the investigation is active and they intend to identify the person responsible. No suspect has been publicly named in the reports I reviewed.
