On Monday, the village was beginning to return to normal after the explosion that killed four and injured at least eight other workers and one firefighter late Friday.

"I hate to use the word 'normal' after something like this, but it is rapidly returning to normal, which is amazing to me," Brickey said.

The smoke that steadily pumped out of the plant following the explosion has largely come to a stop. The power is back on. And the people of the village of less than 1,000 have been allowed to return to their homes, after many had been told to get out of town amid concerns about the potential hazard of burning chemicals.

Formosa employees Joseph Machalek, 50, Larry Graves, 47, and Linda Hancock, 56, all of Decatur, and Glen Lyman, 49, of Cornland were killed in the explosion. Sangamon County Coroner Susan Boone said autopsies conducted Monday revealed they had died of burns, internal blunt force trauma injuries related to the blast of th explosion and smoke inhalation.

Three other Decatur residents remained hospitalized at Memorial Medical Center. Randy Hancock and Bradford Bradshaw were listed in critical condition Monday, while Chris Havener was in serious.

A total of 18 workers were on the job at the sprawling plant when the blast occurred.

Two state lawmakers toured the site Monday and pledged state assistance in getting the plant, reopened.

Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, and Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said they had offered company executives a variety of assistance, including tax credits, low-interest loans and matching funds through the Illinois Department of Transportation for new construction.

Formosa officials already have committed to reopening the plant and have pledged to keep displaced employees' salaries and benefits in place until they can. The plant currently employs about 137.

"It looked bad - it just looked like a war," Mitchell said of the explosion site.

The cause of the blast, which rattled windows more than 20 miles away and sent flames 100 feet in the air, remains under investigation. Officials over the weekend said it was believed the explosion happened as workers were mixing vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate, chemicals used to make the PVC pipe used for the plumbing in many buildings.

Rob Thibault, a spokesman for Formosa, said that to the best of the company's knowledge, all of the plant's safety systems were operating as designed at the time of the incident.

The fact that officials believe Illiopolis is now safe is expected to be the topic at a town meeting set for 7 p.m. tonight in the gymnasium of Illiopolis High School, 341 E. Matilda St.

Air samples collected Monday by Formosa and state officials from around Illiopolis, including the high school, continued Monday to come back with "no detectible of levels of anything of concern," said

Thibault said the company is offering free in-home air testing to Illiopolis residents who may still be concerned about their air quality. To request one, call the plant's information hot line at 486-6500.

Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter declared the site of the Formosa Plastics plant a disaster area Monday. He said the action was taken to raise awareness to the seriousness of the situation and to begin the process of requesting a disaster declaration from the state of Illinois.

"We hope that this declaration is one small step in showing our tremendous appreciation to the paid and volunteer public safety personnel who have worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of the citizens of Sangamon County," Van Meter said.

The county declaration will be sent to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the governor's office.

Sangamon County Administrator Ryan McCrady said the state designation is necessary to obtain a federal disaster declaration.

"The majority of the funding opportunities are at the federal level," McCrady said.

Friday's blast was by far the most serious of the emergencies that have occurred at the plant since its 1962 opening.

Newspaper records show that in May 1999, about 500 pounds of vinyl chloride gas were released into a building when the plant was known as Borden Chemicals and Plastics. No one was injured. In June 1993, a valve from a railroad car delivering vinyl chloride to Borden snapped off, releasing about 1,200 pounds of the chemical into the air.

In 1991, the Illiopolis plant agreed to pay $75,000 to the state to settle charges it had released about 3,285 pounds of vinyl chloride on 14 occasions between 1985 and mid-1989.

The suit, filed by the Illinois attorney general's office, said individual emissions ranged from 24 pounds to 800 pounds at a time and were caused by mechanical failure, operator error or both.

Borden agreed with the levels and causes of the releases, but maintained the emissions were necessary to prevent explosions.

Staff writer John Reynolds and Copley News Service reporter Dorothy Schnieder also contributed to this report. Jason Piscia can be reached at 788-1525 or jason.piscia@sj-r.com.