A leaking pipe from a
33,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank at the South Central Co-Op in
Lacona, in southern Warren County, has been closed and residents who
evacuated may return home after 1 today.
The Indianola, Lacona and Milo
fire departments were called to the scene to pour water on the tank to
dampen fumes from the leak.
Officials worried that winds
could blow the fumes toward the bulk of the town's population.
The Des
Moines Fire Department's Hazmat team helped shut down the
leak.
-----------------------
Residents of 20 homes on Stewart
Avenue in Streetsboro returned to their houses Wednesday morning
following an evacuation because a tanker truck spilled hydrochloric acid
solution on the turnpike the night before.
The
truck overturned on the Ohio Turnpike shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday,
closing a portion of the toll road and prompting the evacuation,
according to the Streetsboro Fire Department.
The department=92s public information officer, Kevin
Grimm, said residents returned to their homes Wednesday morning after
sleeping at the homes of friends and relatives.
=93The Red Cross was contacted, but their assistance
(in providing lodging) wasn=92t needed,=94 Grimm said.
Jon Barber, director of Portage County Department of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the area was deemed
safe at about 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The driver, a
46-year-old man from Ohio City, was able to get out of the wreckage and
was found outside of the truck. He was quickly assessed by paramedics
and moved a safe distance from the scene in an ambulance.
-----------------------
ROCKFORD (WREX) - Hazmat crews
get called out to a Rockford Business. About 30 to 50 gallons of
muriatic acid spilled inside Rockford Products. A supervisor
noticed the spill and called Hazmat. Crews don't think any of the
acid made its way into the drainage system. Muriatic acid is usually
used as a cleaning product.
-----------------------
NDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - There were
tense moments Thursday morning along Interstate 65 as HAZMAT crews
worked to identify two different liquids as they spilled out of a Fed Ex
truck.
Fire and HAZMAT crews were called to I-65 and Market
Street just before 5 a.m. with word that Hydrochloric acid might be
leaking from the truck.
HAZMAT experts identified the
first liquid as brake fluid leaking out of the truck=92s air
lines.
The second liquid was identified as ink; some of the
southbound lanes were blocked while crews mopped up the spill.
-----------------------
Four students and two teachers
have been taken to hospital after a science experiment went wrong at a
school in Melbourne=92s north-east this afternoon.
The primary
school class in Preston was conducting an experiment with a magnesium
when the metal-based powder ignited and sent a fumes throughout the
classroom about 1pm, paramedic team manager Stephen Moody
said.
Advanced life support paramedics were called to the
school and assessed 20 students who were in the classroom at the
time.
Four boys, aged 12 and 13, and two teachers required
hospital treatment for sore throats, coughing and chest tightness after
inhaling fumes.
=91=91We were told a container of magnesium somehow
ignited causing a large flash and a plume of magnesium smoke,=92=92 Mr
Moody said.
-----------------------
The man who was killed in a fire
at Quad/Graphics averted a massive chemical spill at the plant, but
could not save his own life.
After days of investigation,
fire officials now have more information on the sequence of events that
ended with the death of James Bruce Mitchell, 60, a 20-year employee at
Quad/Graphics, a printing plant on Old Columbia Road.
While working
with a forklift inside the factory Friday, Mitchell had punctured a line
containing toluene, a flammable chemical used in the printing process,
said Dickson Fire Chief Richard Greer. The chemical had spilled onto his
body, but he was able to climb a flight of stairs and shut off a
secondary valve, preventing a potentially huge chemical leak at the
factory, the chief said.
-----------------------
PUNE: Leakage of a chemical kept
in a box in the parcel office at Pune railway station, created panic
among the workers. The incident happened on Thursday around 10.30 am.
Few workers complained of minor irritation in the eyes following the
leakage.
The Pune fire brigade officials rushed to the spot
and removed the box to a safe place. The firemen also cleaned-up the
parcel office.
Vijay Bhilare, station duty officer of Pune fire
brigade, said that the box contained 6 kgs of the chemical,
Formaldehyde. It had come from New Delhi for the Military hospital in
Khadki.
Bhilare said, "We received a call around 10.30 am on
Thursday regarding the leakage. When we went to the spot, the workers
had already brought the box out of the parcel office."
-----------------------
Two people
have been treated by paramedics after inhaling fumes from a chemical
leak at a farm in Dorset.
The fire service was called by
South Western Ambulance Service to Pentridge, near Cranborn, at about
1035 BST.
It is believed a container of formaldehyde was
kicked over by an animal, a spokeswoman said.
Three fire
crews have been dealing with the clean-up operation. It involved the
chemical being absorbed into sand or soil.
-----------------------
A chemical leaked today in the
tunnels beneath the Millikan Library on the campus of Caltech, and two
workers were treated for possible eye irritation, authorities
said.
The problem was reported about 5:30 a.m. at the
college in the 1200 block of East California Boulevard, said Lisa
Derderian of the Pasadena Fire Department.
About 20 construction workers
and cleaning personnel were evacuated from the tunnels, which link
various campus buildings, and firefighters were sent to handle the
problem, Derderian said.
-----------------------
LACONA - People living in
Lacona returned home Thursday afternoon, after emergency crews stopped a
leaking pipe that was spewing plumes of anhydrous ammonia into the
air.
"I just heard a bunch of sirens going off and next
thing I know I am being told that I can't come back into town," Pete
Carico of Lacona said.
Emergency crews asked the 360 people living in the
small town to leave until the leak was under control.
The chemical
used as a fertilizer in farming can cause rapid dehydration if inhaled,
permanent lung damage and severe chemical burns if touched.
"There is a
lot of it in Iowa and the fire departments are pretty used to working
with it, because there is so much in Iowa," Warren County Emergency
Management Director Mahala Cox said. "It is an extremely hazardous
material."
The Des Moines Hazmat Team stopped the leak at
around 1 PM.
Two people were taken to the hospital after they
complained of breathing problems, however no one was seriously
injured.
-----------------------
DECATUR, Ga. -- Police in DeKalb
County blocked off a street and called in a hazmat team to a Decatur
home early Thursday morning.
Channel 2
Action News reporter Rebecca Lindstrom was at the scene on Ridgeland
Avenue in Decatur and said officers were originally called out to a home
that had a possible meth lab inside.
Officials
said they received a call from a neighbor who said the homeowner was
acting strangely.
DeKalb County Fire Department
officials sent its hazmat unit to the home just before 3 a.m. after
police reported something suspicious on the porch. Hazmat team members
left at about 5 a.m., but the DEA=92s Clandestine Lab unit arrived at
the scene to take its place.
Just after 6
a.m., Decatur police said they did not find a meth lab in the home, but
they did find some unidentified liquids and materials. Officials said
the liquids and materials do not appear to be explosive.
The homeowner was taken to the hospital for a
medical evaluation.
-----------------------
22 people are
rushed to the hospital due to a chlorine leak during a swim
class.
The HazMat situation had Sun Prairie first
responders asking for help from anywhere they could get it.
The
ambulances came rushing in from all around. 8 different services from
area cities sending help to a Sun Prairie pool.
Police say a
chlorine leak is responsible for sickening 22 people this morning
including 14 kids who were rushed to the hospital during swim
class.
Kittelson Swim School Owner Dan Kittelson says, "I
was terrified of what could be when you talk about pools and chemicals
and kids. I've been doing this 20 years and this is the first time I've
seen it."
While cleaning up what's left of the problem
Kittelson says his instructors quick actions likely prevented serious
injuries.
-----------------------
While the investigation is
ongoing, we wanted to find out exactly what this toxic gas is. KSFY
Action News Reporter Jake Iversen gives you a closer look at how
firefighters and hazmat crews deal with this deadly chemical.
Emergency
crews in Sioux Falls say that cases dealing with the chemical hydrogen
sulfide are very rare and almost non existent.
Jim Sideras
says, "=46rom what we've seen and heard from other departments it's very
unusual and in some cases it's almost isolated.
But that
doesn't mean they haven't seen the chemical before.
Jim Sideras
says, "Normally it's found in nature when things start to decompose
however you can mix chemicals to get hydrogen sulfide and when you do
that it can be extremely fatal to breathe in those fumes.
Firefighters
and hazmat-mat crews are trained to deal with dangerous chemicals but if
they do not know what they're dealing with, it can cause
problems.
Jim Sideras says, "Any exposure can be deadly for
firefighters just because we have gear on doesn't protect us from
certain chemicals.
"Chemicals tend to show some physical reaction and
when people have been exposed to hydrogen sulfide it can turn pennies in
their pocket different colors. This is just one thing firefighters look
for when dealing with chemical emergencies."
-----------------------
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - A train
fire Wednesday afternoon prompted the need for firefighters and HazMat
units in Montgomery. Authorities aren't sure what sparked the blaze, but
CSX Transportation officials say an investigation is underway.
The accident
happened in the area of Wares Ferry Road and McClemore Road.
The train was
carrying unidentified hazardous materials, so a HazMat team was brought
in to secure the area. CSX spokesman Gary Cease said the contents are
known by the company's Operations Center, but the exact contents have
not been released to the public.
-----------------------
Several
children have been treated by paramedics at a school in Twickenham after
100 litres of chemicals were poured down a drain.
The
youngsters had been attending a summer camp at St Catherine's School,
Cross Deep, when the incident happened at about 1030 BST.
London
Ambulance Service (LAS) said it had treated 26 children and adults
showing "minor symptoms" from fumes.
All of the children who were
treated were then taken to hospital.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman
said it believed about 100 litres of sodium hypochlorite and sodium
bisulphate were poured down a nearby drain.
-----------------------
DANDRIDGE =97
A man went from the emergency room to a jail cell after his
methamphetamine lab blew up in his mother=92s garage, authorities
said.
Brian Keith Koester, 24, remains in jail today on a
charge of initiating meth manufacturing. He suffered minor bruises and
chemical burns Tuesday around 6:45 p.m. when his meth lab exploded at
705 Ross Drive just outside town, said Chief Detective Ronny Coleman of
the Jefferson County Sheriff=92s Department.
=93It blew
the door completely off its hinges,=94 Coleman said. =93He=92d just been
out of prison three weeks for stealing.=94
-----------------------
Police, fire and rescue vehicles
closed a portion of the downhill campus late Tuesday afternoon in
response to a chemical spill in Pearson Hall.
Tufts
University Police Department (TUPD) Sergeant Darren Weisse told the
Daily Tuesday night that =93a small amount of a chemical=94 had been
spilled in a Pearson Hall lab at approximately 5:00 p.m. Weisse
characterized the incident as =93minor,=94 There were no injuries, he
said.
Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler told the
Daily that a lab employee accidentally dropped =93a tube containing a
very small amount=94 of a chemical onto the lab floor. Thurler
identified the chemical as =93about 20cc=92s=94 of methacryloyl
chloride.
Exposure to methacryloyl chloride may result in
=93headache, dizziness, weakness, and nausea=85respiratory tract
irritation, esophageal or gastrointestinal tract irritation or burns,
and allergic dermatitis,=94 according to CAMEO, an online chemical
database for emergency responders.
-----------------------
The summer storm that struck northern Lebanon County
late Monday afternoon may have contributed to a propane gas leak at a
Swatara Township business, the Lebanon County HazMat unit chief said
Tuesday.
Emergency crews were sent to
Camp Central at 47 Mountain Drive shortly after 6 p.m. after receiving a
report of a leaking propane tank.
The 1,000-pound tank rolled over
after the ground underneath it became soft, said county HazMat director
Ben Herskowitz. The valve became dislodged when it rolled over, causing
the leak.
The storm might have been a factor in the tank's
rollover, he added.
Air monitoring around the tank showed explosive
conditions, Herskowitz said. The tank was about 20 feet from the Camp
Central building.
"We could actually see a cloud of propane," he
said.
-----------------------
A gasoline tanker careened into
an Oakwood fire truck parked at the scene of a crash yesterday afternoon
(Aug. 16), triggering a Hazmat response, according to WJW-TV.
Two firefighters -- one who was behind the apparatus
and another who was in front of it -- escaped injury, Chief Jim Schade
told the news station.
"They heard the (sound) and
jumped over the concrete wall over there to get behind it," he
said.
The firefighters were on the
scene of an earlier collision on I-275 shortly after noon when the
driver of the tanker wasn't able to stop in time.
Hazmat crews responded after less than 200 gallons
of fuel leaked from the tanker, and the Ohio EPA said the spill was
cleaned up. Luckily, emergency valves on the tanker prevented the
majority of the 8,000 gallons of gasoline it was transporting from
leaking out.
-----------------------
KFD: PERSON INJURED IN CHEMICAL
REACTION,
http://www.volunteertv.com/news/headlines/100892554.html?ref=554
KNOXVILLE,
Tenn. (WVLT) -- One person was injured when he mixed two pool chemicals,
causing a "violent reaction" at a North Knoxville apartment complex on
East Inskip Rd. Tuesday, Knoxville Fire Capt. D.J. Corcoran confirms. It
happened just a few minutes before noon.
Corcoran says the incident is
isolated to the pool area of Williamsburg Village, 5005 E. Inskip Rd.,
and does not pose any danger to nearby residents.
A maintenance
worker was mixing two pool-related chemicals in a 5-gallon bucket when
the reaction occurred. .
Corcoran says the chemicals,
calcium hydrochloride and trichloro-s-trazainetrione, were in solid
form.
The man was decontaminated at the scene, Corcoran
says, and then taken to a nearby hospital. The extent of the man's
injuries is not known.
-----------------------
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Firefighters
said chlorine, while common, is a dangerous chemical, made evident by
two chlorine explosions in the Charlotte area in just one
week.
=93If you put the wrong chemical
in the wrong environment in the wrong place, a lot of things can happen
and an explosion is entirely possible,=94 said Battalion Chief Phil
Bosche, with the Charlotte Fire Department.
On
Monday, two employees at an east Charlotte pool were injured when
chlorine exploded onto them. On Tuesday of last week, the 12-year-old
daughter of a Channel 9 producer had to be airlifted to a hospital after
being burned by a chlorine explosion.
-----------------------
Commuters
travelling along the Eastern Express Highway had to suffer a nightmarish
six-hour traffic jam on a rainy Tuesday morning when a tanker carrying
an inflammable chemical turned turtle near Pant Nagar, Ghatkopar.
Traffic police said the accident, which occurred at 5 am, brought
peak-hour
traffic to a halt until 11 am.
"Traffic had to be diverted to other ancillary routes," said Joint
Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vivek Phansalkar.
The tanker, carrying the highly inflammable xylene
hydrochloride, had come from Gujarat and was on its way to
Chembur.
Police said at around 5 am, the driver of the
tanker, Aidaram Chaudhary (34), lost control of the vehicle and hit the
road divider. The impact made the tanker turn turtle.
-----------------------
A chemical spill that has forced the evacuation of
200 workers from a factory strip in Melbourne=92s outer north is not
expected to be cleared until late this afternoon, firefighters
say.
Emergency services were called to PJ Meats in
Thomastown after workers noticed a strong smell of ammonia on the
factory floor about 11.20am.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade
spokesman Jennifer Roberts said 60 workers from the High Street factory
were immediately evacuated, along with 120 workers from two adjoining
factories.
She said 25 litres of ammonia had spilled from the
factory=92s refrigeration system, sending fumes throughout the
workplace.
-----------------------
