A small town in the rural US state of Iowa was evacuated Thursday after a fire at a fertiliser storage facility released noxious fumes, officials said.
The fire broke out on Thursday morning in the town of Northwood, which has a population of nearly 2000 people and is near the border with Minnesota.
A man who answered the phone at the Worth County sheriff's department told AFP he didn't have time to provide many details.
"The town is evacuated," he said.
"We have a chemical fire."
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Four people were being treated at a local hospital for exposure to the fumes, the Globe Gazette reported.
The fertiliser storage plant contained sulfuric acid, which can cause vomiting, nausea and respiratory problems, the paper said.
Shelters were set up in a neighbouring town for residents and their pets as a blizzard bore down on the area.
