Ohio Governor Mike DeWine flew into East Palestine to meet with federal and statewide agencies before DeWine announced that the controlled release of toxic chemicals inside unstable tank cars was taking place. 

DeWine said there was no "good choice" in this scenario when dealing with the release of toxic chemicals, like Vinyl Chloride, presenting deadly health risks if there is a lack of proper evacuation. Still, officials said if crews didn't take matters into their own hands and conduct the controlled explosion themselves, there was a much more "catastrophic" event waiting to happen. 

These are the factors that the governor, along with federal and statewide forces weighed for hours Monday morning before pulling the trigger.

The planning beforehand consisted of briefings involving the Norfolk Southern, Environmental Protection Agency, Emergency Management Agency, National Department of Defense, Ohio National Guard, many law enforcement agencies and lawmakers, among others... Forces from the top down came together to weigh the options. 

"The [potential] explosion was described as catastrophic," DeWine said, "Then there was also [discussions] in that briefing on what could be done to avoid that, and the thing that could be done was this controlled release."

Once the announcement was made, authorities repeatedly ordered residents in a two-mile radius of the site on the eastern part of the village to immediately evacuate if they have not already, calling it a "matter of life or death."

DeWine said inhalation of the toxic chemicals could be life-threatening and exposure could cause burns or lung damage. 

Experts created "conservative" modeling information to show the public how widespread the controlled explosion could be. 

"The controlled release of the toxic chemicals have the potential to be deadly if inhaled," DeWine warned. 

DeWine along with authorities said they do not know when residents will be able to return to their homes and will continue monitoring the situation. 

Later Monday evening, officials announced the controlled explosion was successful and another press conference in East Palestine is scheduled for Tuesday.