MACON - A lightning strike was blamed Tuesday for the fire that destroyed the Evergreen FS fertilizer plant in Macon, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage.

South Macon Fire Protection District firefighters were called to the scene about 12:30 p.m. and remained late Tuesday afternoon, monitoring the smoldering ruins.

"We're going to let it burn out," said South Macon Fire Capt. Jim Ray. "We can't put water on it. We don't want to create runoff that could pollute the ground water."

Firefighters were putting lime all the way around the facility to contain any chemical leakage and were creating dikes in nearby ditches, Ray said. Crews from Bodine Environmental Services of Decatur were called to the scene, he said.

Michelle Carroll lives half a mile from the fire scene and watched the drama unfold with her children Shadow, 11, Storm Mason, 3, and 1½-year-old Sara.

"We heard what we thought was thunder and then looked out the back window to see this big fire," said Carroll, 34. "And all of a sudden there were firetrucks and rescue trucks and ambulances everywhere; it was pretty crazy. My 3-year-old said, 'Look, Mommy, there is fireworks, let's go see them,' and I said, 'No, let's not, honey.' "

Carroll said she would have evacuated her house with the children if she had realized at the time there were propane tanks right next to the flames. She only found that out later. "It scared me to death," she said.

"My kids just thought the whole thing was cool," she said. "My 11-year-old, Shadow, who was home from school sick, said, 'Oh, look, we're on the news,' and I turned to look at the TV and realized you could see the back of our house as they filmed the fire. I just said to the kids 'Yeah, that's nice ?' "

Other witnesses recalled the fierce storm that preceded the fire. Donna Tomlinson, who owns Macon's Tomlinson Furniture with her husband, Phil, said the sky went black and wind, rain and hail began to hammer so hard on the store's windows she had to back away from them.

"We get storms out here," she said. "But they don't usually set buildings on fire."

The fire cut off access to the Meridian School District's buses, and substitute vehicles had to be brought from Springfield to take students home, said Superintendent Frank Meyer.

"Springfield is on spring break, so it worked out well for us," Meyer said. "Laidlaw has the contract for both districts. The company did a great job bringing the buses over. Our drivers rode with the Springfield drivers to show them where to go."

Students were 30 to 35 minutes late arriving home, he said.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency was notified of the fire, and an agency representative was headed for Macon late Tuesday afternoon to monitor the scene and provide any advice local authorities might request, said Maggie Carson, Illinois EPA spokeswoman in Springfield.

She said the agency had contacted the Macon County Emergency Management Agency.

"We expressed our concern with runoff, but it sounds like they are dealing with that," Carson said.

Kendall Miller, Evergreen FS general manager, was on the scene and could not be reached for comment. Firefighters and Macon County sheriff's deputies were limiting access to the fire scene.

Sheriff's Lt. Tom Schneider, a Macon alderman, said early in the fire, deputies closed U.S. 51 at Elwin because of concern for a possible explosion from chemical tanks and propane at the plant. He said FS personnel indicated the potash and fertilizers at the facility were nontoxic when burned.

Deputies also closed Macon County Highway 32 at Macon, Gabriel Road southbound at Woodcock Road and Ruby Street at Woodcock Road, Schneider said.

The Blue Mound, Harristown, South Wheatland, Mount Zion and Moweaqua fire departments assisted in handling the fire.

Ron Ingram can be reached at ringram@herald-review.com or 421-7973. Tony Reid can be reached at treid@herald-review.com or 421-7977.