DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — The impact of Sunday night’s explosion at Decatur’s ADM complex could be seen and felt in both the city and in surrounding communities. And word quickly spread that Decatur’s largest employer was on fire.

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said she didn’t see the explosion first hand, but she heard firefighters on their way to the emergency.

“Where I live, there are a lot of echoes, but within a very short amount of time, I heard another house being called out,” Moore Wolfe said. “So I knew something had happened that was bad.”

That is when Moore Wolfe received some phone calls and started to take action. After the news, she had to put her faith in the firefighters.

“The words explosion, fire, and injuries are three words nobody wants to hear,” she said. “You hope for best case scenario, you prepare for the worst.”

Former firefighter Mark Scranton from Mount Zion said he has responded to a similar call.

“I went out to Illiopolis when the board and chemical plant blew up.”

Scranton saw ADM’s fire from Mount Zion. He said working around industrial buildings is a different environment for firefighters.

“You never know what you’re going to walk into on an industrial fire,” he said. “It’s a little bit different than dealing with a residential house fire.”

That’s where a firefighter’s extensive training comes in.

“They are the ones, much like 9/11, who run in when everybody else is running out,” Moore Wolfe said.

The explosion occurred in the East plant, but the rest of the ADM plant is still open. More than 4,000 people work at the Decatur location.