I Believe Chemtool Fire in Affecting my Health, and Other Loved Ones

For the last two weeks plus, I have been having difficulty breathing. I have had shortness of breath, coughing, runny nose, a "fullness" in my chest and itchy eyes. I have had seasonal allergies since I was a kid, and I can promise you this is NOT that.

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I live in Roscoe a few miles away from where the Chemtool explosions and fire happened. While I'm not in the "direct path" of the giant smoke trail we all have seen pictures of, I believe what has been floating around and contaminating the air I breath is affecting my health. Going to a gas station, a store, in what you would think is a safe distance away apparently hasn't been all that safe.

Both of my fiancée's daughters have also felt the affects of this. Itchy eyes, congestion, breathing issues, etc. My oldest son has been not feeling well, (same stuff) and he has had an eye irritation that has been pretty bad and consistent.

We have been questioning whether or not this was because of the Chemtool situation, and then late yesterday a survey was emailed to me from the Winnebago County Health Department. As I filled out this survey, I checked an awful lot of boxes. Are you feeling this, do you notice that, etc...It's like the survey knew EXACTLY how I was feeling. Weird, huh?

Now I am absolutely NOT the type of person that is "I'm gonna sue this and that" but man, this is affecting my everyday. Not being able to breathe fully is a bit scary. I eat very clean, I'm a gym rat, so my health is extremely important to me and something I take serious. Oh, and yes I am fully vaccinated.

I have not only completed my survey about living near the Chemtool fire, but I reached out to the Winnebago County Health Department on what my next steps should be.

Believe me, I do NOT want this to be true. But the reality of what I have been breathing in, along with a survey sent to me that I checked box after box of my symptoms...has me very concerned.

If you are up in the Roscoe area and these things are true for you as well, please contact the Winnebago County Health Department.

Too be continued...