LITTLE ROCK—A class-action lawsuit over an evacuation after a 2005 explosion and chemical fire in El Dorado can move forward, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Justices affirmed a Union County judge’s ruling allowing those suing Teris LLC, Op-Tech Environmental Services Inc. and CSX Transportation Inc. to name who could join their lawsuit. Under the terms, any adult from a home or business forced to evacuate from certain areas around the Teris facility could join the suit.

The companies appealed the judge’s decision. However, justices’ ruling Thursday dismissed the companies’ claims that the definition of who could join the suit was too broad and other issues.

Nearly 2,500 people were evacuated Jan. 2, 2005, after an explosion at the Teris hazardous-waste storage warehouse. No one was injured and the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes and businesses a day later.

The fire smoldered for days after firefighters chose not to fight it for fear that water would react dangerously with some of the stored chemicals.

An Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality report later said the fire likely started by the spontaneous ignition of a barrel of sodium chlorate that may have contained other materials that reacted with the chemical.