UNION TOWNSHIP | Authorities said a home in the Shorewood Forest subdivision was damaged Saturday after two household chemical bombs exploded on the lawn.

A 56-year-old woman told Porter County Sheriff's Department investigators that she and her husband were awoken by a "thud" outside their home about 12:30 a.m. in the 400 block of Westchester Circle.

About an hour later, they heard another noise they thought was possibly their cat knocking something off a table. The woman said they looked around the house, didn't see anything abnormal and went back to bed.

That morning, though, they discovered a window facing the front yard was shattered and areas of their lawn had burn marks next to two plastic bottles.

Authorities said they believe one of the bottles was thrown at the window and and it appears both bottles were used to create a bomb-like device using household cleaners.

Officers said the family initially wondered if they had been targeted because of their Muslim faith. On Monday, Sgt. Larry LaFlower, public information officer with the sheriff's department, said investigators found nothing leading them to believe the vandalism was a possible hate crime.

LINCOLN, NEB. –  A collision involving two large trucks has spilled a hazardous chemical into Nebraska Highway 2 in Lincoln.

Lincoln fire captain Eric Jones told the Journal Star that a semi carrying 16 250-gallon tanks of boiler cleaner rear-ended a large flatbed truck Saturday afternoon. One of the tanks of cleaner ruptured and the chemical spilled onto highway.

The westbound lanes of the highway were closed Saturday afternoon as crews worked to contain the spill.

BROTHERS, Ore. -- A more than 60-mile stretch of Highway 20E east of Brothers was shut for hours and expected to stay closed or restricted to one lane for hours more Wednesday night after a semi tanker truck flipped onto its side and began to spill a possibly hazardous chemical.
Initial reports indicated the truck driver was banged up and had some shoulder and chest pain but was generally unhurt after the crash, reported around 7:50 p.m. in the area of milepost 50, about eight miles east of Brothers, near the intersection with Fredrick Butte Road, or more than 50 miles east of Bend.
Deschutes County dispatchers contacted Sherman Brothers, the Harrisburg, Ore. trucking company, as well as Chemtrec and the Idaho firm expecting the shipment. They at first were told a blue fluid seen coming from the 40-foot-long tanker could be an alkaline-based industrial cleaner or "surfactant," which can in some circumstances cause upper respiratory burns or superficial skin burns..

A small chemical fire April 13 forced the temporary evacuation of CK Enterprises, 1204 S.W. Jefferson St.

The Lee’s Summit Fire Department responded at 1:23 p.m. to the business, where occupants had called 911 to report a fire involving a chemical product in a warehouse.

When firefighters arrived, light smoke was visible from the back of the business and all employees had been evacuated.

Plant staff provided information on the burning product to firefighters, who went inside the building and found the smoldering remains of several buckets containing a powdered cleaning product.

The heat from the initial fire activated one fire sprinkler head over the area. The sprinkler system contained the fire to the buckets of the chemical product and some nearby boxes. Firefighters completed extinguishment of the fire and moved the debris outside of the building. Crews then shut off the sprinkler head and assisted with smoke removal while assessing for any additional hazards.

The incident was under control by 2:24 p.m., with damage contained to the buckets containing the chemcial product and to nearby equipment and boxes, which sustained minor damage.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a chemical reaction of two materials being used to develop a new cleaning product.

After completion of smoke removal and air monitoring, the business was able to be reoccupied.

The Anne Arundel County Fire Department responded at 9 p.m. Saturday after a report of a chemical explosion in a park near Kempton and Overhill roads in Glen Burnie.

Fire spokesman Battalion Chief Steve Thompson said some teenagers were making "bottle bombs," possibly using a combination of drain cleaner and alcohol.

An 18-year-old woman received lacerations and burns from the explosion and was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with serious but not life-threatening injuries, Thompson said.

MANHATTAN, KS (KCTV) -
Three student employees were taken to the hospital after an acid vapor incident at Kansas State's Weber Hall on Monday.

Firefighters and K-State's public safety team cleaned up an acid vapor in Weber Hall around 8:30 a.m. Monday.

University officials said an acid vapor was created after a student worker improperly mixed together two cleaning chemicals in the meats lab in Weber Hall.

Weber Hall houses the department of animal sciences and industry.

Officials said the mixture caused an acid vapor that irritates the eyes and mucus membrane of the lungs.

The student, along with two other students who walked through the room and another who smelled the mixture in an adjacent room, were all taken to the hospital for examination.

Crews evacuated Weber Hall to ventilate the building, and the building was approved for re-entry around 11:15 a.m.

A small chemical spill at the Aloma Post Office likely was cleaning fluid, Orange County Fire Rescue said this afternoon.

The post office was evacuated about 9:40 a.m. when some of the 21 employees at work started coughing and said they felt burning in their throats, authorities said.

One person was taken to the hospital as a precaution early this morning after inhaling chemical fumes in a storage building at the Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kan.

The worker was preparing cleaning products just after 1 a.m. when a reaction caused a release of fumes, according to the Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department.

When fire crews arrived they determined that no toxic fumes remained in the building. The storage building was not attached to the casino and its operations were not affected.

TIPTON COUNTY, Ind. -- U.S. 31 in Tipton County was closed for several hours Tuesday after a crash involving at truck carrying cleaning products.
Police said a tractor-trailer rear-ended a box truck that was stopped at the railroad tracks on U.S. 31 at Division Road on Tuesday morning.
The highway was closed in both directions as a precaution in case any of the cleaning chemicals in the truck had mixed, creating a possibly hazardous situation, police said.
Some chemicals could be seen leaking from the truck. A hazardous chemical team from the Kokomo Fire Department was called in to assess the situation.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - One lane of Interstate 70 at state Route 256 reopened early Friday morning following a Thursday evening Hazmat cleanup.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a commercial vehicle spilled a cleaning agent onto the road shortly after 6 p.m.

Two lanes of the highway were closed for about four hours.

Traffic was being diverted to S.R. 256, and the ramps to I-70 east from Brice Road and S.R. 256 also were closed, 10TV News reported.

Ohio Department of Transportation officials said that the cleaning agent damaged the pavement, and crews were working to make repairs.

Three adults were taken to the hospital Tuesday morning after being overcome by chemical fumes at St. Margaret School in Bel Air, Harford County emergency officials said. No children were injured.

A chemical odor in the building was reported at 8:30 a.m. Harford County's hazardous materials team and Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company responded and evacuated the building at 205 Hickory Ave., Rich Gardiner, a spokesman for Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association, said.

Three faculty members feeling ill from the odor were taken to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, while three other adults at the scene refused treatment. Two of the three taken to the hospital had fainted at the school, according to a press release from the Archdiocese of

No children complained of symptoms from the odor, which was attributed to the cross-contamination of cleaning solutions, according to the press release. Sean Caine, from the archdiocese, said people reported a strong bleach-like odor.

Patients on the fifth floor of the Victoria General Hospital were evacuated Monday evening after a strong-smelling cleaning agent wafted through the vents, alarming staff members.

More than a dozen firefighters from View Royal and Colwood fire departments were called around 7: 35 p.m. after nurses on the fifth floor reported a strong chemical smell that was causing eye irritation, said Dr. Martin Wale, executive medical director of quality and patient safety.

While it was initially suspected to be smoke from a patient smoking crack cocaine, that was ruled out. The odour was actually caused by a cleaner using a floor-stripping compound before waxing the floor of a sixth-floor room, Wale said.

Fumes from cleaning chemicals that were accidently mixed together prompted the evacuation of a hotel on a Sioux Falls hospital complex.
 
Crews blocked off the street outside the Center Inn early Friday and vented the fumes out of the building on the Avera McKennan Hospital campus. The Center Inn is a hotel for patients' families.
 
One person suffered respiratory problems but recovered.
 
Fire Department Battalion Chief Travis Thom says a maintenance crew mixed bleach and acid in a laundry room.

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Continuing coverage on a suspected meth lab that led to evacuations in Santa Fe last week. It turns out, it wasn't a meth lab at all.
The chemicals that sent two police officers to the hospital were things you probably have in your home.
Captain Aric Wheeler says they've never been in a situation he can remember where chemicals this strong turn out not to be a meth lab.
They were taken into custody, hand cuff, handcuffed and covered in white protective jumpsuits, two jumpsuits. Two tenants at a small apartment complex on Agua Fria were initially suspected of cooking meth.
"We don't try and mess around with these things. Obviously they can be fatal," said Wheeler.
The chemical vapors strong enough to send two cops to the hospital was a common household cleaner, "drano."Drano.
The residents were trying to clean out a clogged drain while next door, neighbors were using acetone to remove floor tile. Together they became a dangerous combination.
"Even though they weren't a meth lab, they still were very toxic in the odors they were emitting," said Wheeler.
The scene Friday afternoon caused quit a commotion. Firefighters and hazmat crews descended on the apartment and even evacuated nearby neighbors. Captain Wheeler stands behind the department's decision.
"We have to take the measures necessary to ensure the public safety," said Wheeler.
Action 7 News tried to talk to neighbors, knocking on door, but were told neighbors were still embarrassed and too angry to talk.
Captain Wheeler says in this case they'd rather be wrong than right, because a meth lab in the middle of Santa Fe is a danger the do not want to deal with.
Wheeler says officers were on high alert because meth labs aren't common in the city, but just that morning they found a mobile meth lab and thought the two location locations might be connected.
The tenants refused to allow police into the home and Wheeler says that was also suspicious because usually when that happens, people have something to hide.
Copyright 2012 by KOAT.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

VIRGIN Active gym and Grant's shopping centre in Croydon town cente were evacuated this morning (Monday) after an incident concerning chemicals.

It is understood a worker cleaning the toilets mixed several chemicals together, which created a noxious gas.

MONTEREY - A mismatched mixture of cleaning chemicals released toxic chlorine gas in the basement of the Portola Hotel & Spa in downtown Monterey early Monday, sending 30 employees to area hospitals and causing the evacuation of 210 guests as well as other hotel and city employees.

Workers were mixing chemicals in the basement laundry area about 9 a.m. when the combination generated a cloud of chlorine gas, general manager Janine Chicourrat said.

"We evacuated the hotel as a precaution," she said. "Just to be safe."

Wauconda Fire District officials are blaming chemicals on unwashed material for a fire that started in a dryer at an Island Lake bowling alley Saturday.

Battalion Chief Scott Schrayer said firefighters were called to 3-D Bowl and Sideouts Restaurant at 4018 Roberts Road at 1:45 p.m. Saturday for report of a smoke detector being triggered. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke in the rear of the building and a small fire in a standard household-type dryer the bowling alley owners use for drying various materials.

It is believed someone put items in the dryer that had been doused with a cleaning chemical and not properly washed first. Schrayer believes the heat from the dryer ignited the chemicals, which caused the fire.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and removed the dryer from the building. The dryer was a total loss, Schrayer said.

Chemical fumes from cleaning a bubbler drain caused the evacuation of Bessie Allen Middle School on Thursday morning.

Superintendent Aaron Sadoff said a drain cleaner was being used to unplug a bubbler near the cafeteria, and during the process, a chemical reaction occurred in the pipe, causing a bad odor to permeate through the school.

The odor did not dissipate, he said. Students from Bessie Allen Middle School were moved to the Horace Mann High School Performing Arts Center while the North Fond du Lac Fire Department used fans to clear out the odor.

Several people were sent to the hospital after a chemical mixture error in Cape Girardeau.

It happened around 11:15 a.m. at HealthPoint Fitness. The building was evacuated after a mixing error involving laundry chemicals, according to Southeast Health.

According to the fire department, the mixture caused a chemical reaction as one of the chemicals was a mild acid and the other was an oxidizer

According to Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Rick Ennis, crews were dispatched to some sort of chemical mixture sending fumes in the air.

Three employees were taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, according to Southeast Health. They were being treated for minor chemical irritation and were released later Friday.

Fire department crews say large electric fans were placed in the building to bring fresh air into the structure. While the fans were running personnel continued to monitor the area for toxic levels. 

Crews say hospital personnel then shut off the HVAC system while the incident was ongoing to keep the fumes from traveling throughout the building.  Fire personnel then started monitoring the area for toxicity in the environment.

The fire department used Haz-Mat suits and removed a 15-gallon container of mixed chemicals from the building, according to the fire department. 

A fire that broke out in the garage of a house on the campus of The Lawrenceville School was extinguished before it could cause any significant damage this afternoon, Friday, Jan. 13.

Spontaneous combustion of rags soaked with a chemical cleaner started the fire in the two-car garage attached to a faculty members’ residence on Woods Drive on the private school’s campus, according to Lawrence Township Fire Inspector Rich Soltis, who investigated the blaze.

The fire, which spread from the rags to the contents of a plastic storage tote and a vacuum, generated a decent amount of smoke and activated a heat detector connected to the home’s fire alarm system, Soltis said.

A hazardous materials incident at San Jose's Oakridge Mall has been declared under control, a fire department spokesman said.

A moviegoer reported a hazardous vapor coming from cleaning materials in a bathroom at the movie theater on the second floor of the mall on Blossom Hill Road at about 2 p.m., Capt. Mike Van Elgort, a spokesman for the fire department, said.

Firefighters responded and evacuated dozens of people from the entire second floor of the mall.

An employee at a Sumner business was hospitalized today after inhaling possibly hazardous chemicals, fire officials said.

The Pierce County Hazardous Materials Incident Team was called to Northwest Health Care Linen at 3107 142nd Avenue East just before noon after a worker became ill while handling linens from a hospital.

The hazmat team evacuated nearby businesses as a precaution and investigated the scene.

East Pierce Fire & Rescue Chief Jim Jaques said the illness was likely caused by several mop heads coated with cleaning chemicals.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE - Two people have been hospitalized after a chemical leak in Pleasant Prairie.

A hazmat team responded to the leak, which brought about an evacuation at Fair Oaks Farm early Tuesday morning.

Pleasant Prairie Police tell TODAY'S TMJ4 they got a call about the situation at the food processing plant at about 12:55 a.m. Tuesday morning.

According to police, some cleaning chemicals got mixed, creating fumes.

At least one farm worker was among the hospitalized people.  They have both been released.

The owners of Continental Fabric Care abandoned a tractor-trailer containing drums of dangerous chemicals on a Denver street, according to an indictment.

The company, and June Ho Choi, 60, and Hyun S. Pak, 63, never obtained a permit to dispose of or store the dry cleaning chemicals, according to the 5-page indictment, filed in Denver District Court.

The indictment also alleges that the pair lied to the EPA about the matter. Neither could be reached for comment.

On June 12 last year, Denver Fire Lt. Jeff Fletcher contacted a Colorado Attorney General's Office investigator after employees of a business in the 3700 block of Nome Street noticed chemical odors coming from the abandoned semi, according to the indictment.

At about the same time, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment learned details about the hazardous waste in the trailer, which was parked on the street for three days.

Sooke firefighters donned hazmat suits to investigate a minor chemical spill in a van last Wednesday night on Sooke Road.

The stretch of Highway 14 was closed between Charters and Drennan for a couple of hours while the Sooke fire department worked with RCMP to clean up some usually harmless cleaning agents that accidentally combined together creating debilitating fumes, said Fire Chief Steve Sorensen.

“We sent our guys in encapsulating suits and set up a decontamination area in case they spill anything on them,” said Sorensen.

SACRAMENTO, CA - A bad odor sickened a number of employees at the Franchise Tax Board building on Butterfield Way Tuesday morning, causing headaches, sore throats and dizziness.

A hazmat team determined a cleaning solvent, possibly floor cleaner, spilled on an envelope delivered to the building caused the smell, said Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

As a precaution, workers were moved outside. Seven of those suffering the aforementioned symptoms were transported to local hospitals for further care, according to Cockrum.

The odor was eliminated and the building declared safe for employees to return to work about 1:15 p.m. FTB is located at 9646 Butterfield.

The Blue Grass Army Depot Fire Department was called Monday afternoon after a quality assurance inspector observed a bright orange substance on the floor of a large metal storage container.

Officials say the quality assurance inspectors could not initially determine if the substance was a powder, liquid or solid. Based upon their standard operating procedure, the inspectors immediately called the BGAD Fire Department, who identified the substance as a chemical-based cleaning agent.

BGAD fire officials treated the situation as a hazmat incident, and the Madison County Fire Department was called to help. The BGAD Fire Department used two different electronic detectors to determine what the substance was. One detector was used to obtain the toxicity, oxygen level and explosive limits. The other was used to determine the makeup of the chemical.

No one was hurt in the incident. The surrounding community and chemical weapons were not in any danger from the hazmat incident.

Oct. 17--SAN BERNARDINO -- Firefighters evacuated more than 1,200 students and staff from the Art Institute of California on Monday after a bucket of cleaning solution sickened several students in a cooking class.
San Bernardino firefighters came to the campus, 674 E. Brier Drive at 9:20 a.m., when they received a call about four students who became sick after mixing a solution in a cleaning bucket.
"It turned into a mist or cloud and they had difficulty breathing," said San Bernardino fire spokesman Tom Rubio.
Firefighters took two of the four students to hospitals for treatment. The other two were examined at the scene for contamination, but were not hospitalized.

A San Bernardino Fire Department hazmat team was called to the Art Institue of San Bernardino after four students were overcome by noxious fumes early Monday.

The students had difficulty breathing after inhaling a bucket of cleaning materials.

The fumes forced the evacuation of 1,250 persons from the campus located along the 600 block of East Brier Drive in San Bernardino.

The incident happened around 9:20 a.m. when students were mixing the cleaning solution in a bucket intending to clean up some paint.

“They inhaled it and it irritated their lungs,” San Bernardino City Fire Department spokesman Tom Rubio said.

Hartford, Conn. (WTNH) - There was a Hazmat situation near the Hartford Hospital this morning.

A spokesperson for the hospital explained that a worker was cleaning a bathroom on the sixth floor at the Medical Office Building of the Hartford Hospital when the worker inhaled drain cleaner. The worker felt ill, but it now alright.

As a precaution, the floor was evacuated. There were only 2 patients on the floor at the time.

Everyone was been allowed to return.

No other injuries were reported in the incident.

LEASANTON -- Three employees of a downtown pizza parlor were taken to the hospital Tuesday after inhaling fumes from what appeared to be a mixture of cleaning agents, firefighters said.
Livermore-Pleasanton firefighters responded about 2:15 p.m. for three employees at the Round Table Pizza who were sickened after inhaling something in the restaurant's dishwashing area. Firefighters assessed the condition of the workers, decontaminated and treated them on scene, then sent them to ValleyCare Medical Center in Pleasanton as precaution.
No patrons were affected, the fire department said.
Fire department investigators determined the mixing of cleaning agents resulted in a hazardous gas. The restaurant was ventilated, then checked by the fire department and PG&E before being declared safe for operations.

The Marriott Residence Inn in Hartford was evacuated this morning after a small of chlorine gas escaped, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials said.

The DEEP said that its Hazmat team responded around 10:30 a.m. to 942 Main Street along with the fire department.

Two employees mixed cleaning chemicals together that were considered incompatible, DEEP officials said, and as a result, there was a chemical reaction and a small amount chlorine gas escaped on the third floor.

BOHEMIA, N.Y. -- Authorities say two chemical cleaning agents were inadvertently mixed at a New York cellphone business, sickening more than four dozen workers.

The Suffolk County police say 54 workers at CWG Communications became ill Thursday afternoon. They showed symptoms of nausea, vomiting and respiratory distress. Two workers had mild convulsions.

Hazardous material emergency responders responded to the business, which cleans and refurbishes cellphones. Many of the sickened were found on a lawn outside the facility.

Authorities say a new cleaning agent apparently mixed with some residual solution on equipment, causing the reaction. Police Inspector Stuart Cameron says it "appears to be just an accident."

Two cleaning workers were treated after a chemical incident at Materials Processing in Eagan on Monday night, according to the Eagan Fire Department.

Two cleaning chemicals were mixed together and caused pollution, leading one worker to inhale the chemicals. He removed his contaminated clothes, was cleaned with a fire hose and was transported by HealthEast Paramedics to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement from the fire department. The second worker affected was treated on the scene.

Eagan Police and HealthEast Paramedics were dispatched to the scene at 8:30 Monday night. When they discovered it was a chemical incident, they called the Eagan Fire Department. Then the Dakota County Special Operations Team was called in to assess the chemicals and contain them.

farm worker has been taken to hospital after a chemical incident at a farm this morning.

Fire crews from Burton, Stone, Cheadle, Longton and Hanley, including specialist vehicles, were called out to the farm in Leigh shortly after 8.30am to reports that cleaning chemicals had been mixed and created a gas cloud. 

Bob Preston, station manager for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said a 60-metre cordon was set down and firefighters used gas-tight suits and other specialist equipment to assess the situation.

He said: "Only a very small amount of gas had been created as a result of the accidental mixing and so the incident did not require any further firefighter activity.

HAZMAT cleanup of sodium hydroxide spill closed Highway 22 east of Gates for more than four hours Monday.

A carton holding the corrosive chemical ruptured inside a semi trailer about 2:30 p.m. The truck was carrying groceries and mixed cleaning chemicals.

The driver lost control trying to avoid something on the highway and the truck and trailer tipped, according to Oregon State Police Trooper James Ward.

Oregon Department of Transportation officials closed the highway while HAZMAT cleaned up the chemical spill.

The driver, Timothy Ratzenburg, 33, from Palmdale, Calif., was not injured. Passenger German Olan, 43, from Mohave, Calif., suffered minor injuries.

GARDEN GROVE – A hazardous-materials team was called to a Garden Grove neighborhood Monday night after an "acid-type substance" was poured in the area in what police suspect to be a suicide attempt.
Residents reported a "weird smell" near a vehicle belonging to a 20-year-old woman who was staying with them and within their home in the 12200 block of Lampson Avenue just before 7:30 p.m., Garden Grove police Sgt. Doug Pluard said.
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The residents entered the home to see if they could find the woman, who they reportedly hadn't seen in a day, but they were unable to contact her and called police, Pluard said.
Authorities closed portions of Lampson and Buaro Street as the investigated the smell. Nearby residents were advised to stay in their homes.
Shortly before 9:30 p.m., a hazardous materials team determined that the smell was from an "acid-type" substance, possibly one used in pool cleaners, Pluard said.

WESTMINSTER – Six floors in a building were evacuated Wednesday morning after people inside reacted to a mixture of chemicals, officials said.

Firefighters and the Orange County Fire Authority's hazmat team were called to the 5400 block of Garden Grove Boulevard at 8:47 a.m. after employees inside said they had a negative reaction to cleaning chemicals, said Capt. Greg McKeown.

Six floors of the building were evacuated as a precaution, he said. About 150 people were escorted out of the building.

A maintenance crew was mixing cleaning materials when firefighters were called, he said.

A total of 12 people were treated by paramedics at the scene, but they all declined to be taken to a nearby hospital, he said.

Hazmat personnel were sent inside the building to take samples and make sure the building is safe for employees to return, McKeown said.

CINCINNATI -- A fire was reported Saturday night at the J.M. Smucker Company in Saint Bernard.
The business, located on Spring Grove Avenue, was closed for the weekend, but cleaning crews were inside.
Firefighters said the flames were ignited by a reaction of a cleaning chemical with a pot of oil. No one was injured in the fire.
Additional fire crews from Elmwood Place, Wyoming, Golf Manor and Springfield Township were called in to help put out the flames.

On Monday a man from the 8200 block of Waterford Road was taken to the burn unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore after apparently mixing a drain cleaner and a chemical containing bleach. This created a toxic vapor cloud and strong chemical odor. Forty-six fire department personnel were on the scene for about an hour to clear the area of any residual chemicals.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers says that mixing household and chemical products together could result in poisonous gas and should be avoided. It adds that one should turn on fans and open windows when using household and chemical products along with wearing protective clothing like long-sleeved shirts, long pants and gloves.

"Usually we don't recommend any sort of mixing household chemical products," said Samantha Lee, Clinical Toxicology Fellow with the Maryland Poison Center. "Doing that can lead to the formation of vapors which can cause a lot of irritation to the skin and airways."

PASADENA

Vapor burns man

Someone trying to clear a drain at home in Pasadena Tuesday night combined chemicals that created toxic fumes that burned him, county fire officials said.

County firefighters were called to a home in the 8200 block of Waterford Road at 6:57 p.m. for a report of a chemical vapor and cloud. They found a chemical odor and a 37-year-old man with burns.

He apparently had put drain cleaner in the drain, then followed it with chlorine bleach. The two chemicals reacted, creating a vapor and burning the man.

He was taken to the Johns Hopkins-Bayview Burn Center with serious but not life-threatening injuries, Division Chief Michael Cox said.

PORTSMOUTH — A Motel 6 employee was taken to the hospital Thursday morning after being overcome by fumes from a chemical reaction.

Portsmouth Fire Capt. Bernie Marvin said his department was called to 3 Gosling Road at 10:12 a.m. for a hazardous materials incident causing a medical emergency.

Marvin described the employee as a man in his 60s. The man was working in the motel's laundry room on the first floor of the east wing of the building when the incident occurred.

"It appears he was transferring chemicals from one container to the next," Marvin said. "There was a chain reaction where he was overcome."

The motel did not need to be evacuated as a result of the incident.

Two people were taken to hospital and two were treated at the scene after a chemical incident in Manchester.

Fire crews were called to The Alchemist bar in Spinningfields at 0143 BST following reports of a substance giving off furmes.

Greater Manchester Ambulance Service said two people with asthma were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties.

All four people affected were employees of the bar.

A Greater Manchester Fire Service spokesperson said it was suspected the fumes were caused by an accidental mixing of two heavy duty cleaning agents in the kitchen.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Authorities believe chemicals used to unclog a toilet at a Sioux City home created a dangerous mixture that sent three people to the hospital.

Officials were called to the house Monday morning. Firefighters believe chemicals used to unclog a toilet in the basement may have mixed with something caught in the drain, creating hydrogen sulfate gas.

Assistant Fire Chief Jim Clark says firefighters ventilated the house and used water to dilute the chemicals.

Officials say an elderly couple and their granddaughter were taken to a hospital, and all three were conscious.

Their names were not immediately released.

ETNA TOWNSHIP -- Medics transported a janitor to an area hospital Tuesday after the janitor's floor cleaning supplies came in contact with another agent, creating a possible chemical reaction.

No other staff members or students were hurt in the incident at the high school, 8868 Watkins Road SW.

West Licking Joint Fire District received a call concerning a person feeling ill at around 9:50 a.m., fire Chief David Fulmer said.

When medics arrived at the scene, the janitor was having trouble breathing. Medics transported the janitor to an area hospital for precautionary reasons, Fulmer said.

Few other details were available early Tuesday, but Fulmer said the janitor was cleaning a floor in one of the school's hallways when the incident occurred. The janitor was using two regular cleaning products to mop the floor when the products "came in contact with an unknown (chemical), which caused the reaction," Fulmer said.

The Licking County Haz-Mat team responded to the high school, along with firefighters from West Licking. A Licking County Sheriff's Deputy closed the entrance to the high school on Watkins Road.

Other janitors, a handful of building administrators and some band students were inside the school when the incident happened. Firefighters evacuated them, in addition to students lifting weights in a nearby weight-lifting building. No other injuries were reported, Fulmer said.

Because of the extreme heat, the Haz-Mat team was proceeding slowly Tuesday. Team members donned heavy chemical-resistant suits before entering the high school to ascertain the cause of the chemical reaction.

Afterward, Fulmer said they intended to treat the chemical or air out the building.

Watkins Memorial likely will be closed for part of the early afternoon as the Haz-Mat team works, Fulmer said.

Earlier reports of Watkins Road closing as a result of the situation were in error.

A HazMat team monitored and vented a house at 57 St. Mary's Road yesterday after a paint remover apparently reacted with carbon monoxide, sending four people to Milton Hospital.

Milton Fire Chief John Grant said a concrete cause of the vapors that overtook one worker and caused another to feel ill on Monday has not been determined, but it appears that a chemical in the Strip-Ease they were using reacted with carbon monoxide.

The vapors in the home also sent the homeowner and a responding police officer to the hospital. According to Grant those individuals were treated and released.

The conditions of the two workers were not available, but Grant said the worker who was overcome by the fumes suffered chemical burns and was transported to Mass General.

The Milton Fire Department and HazMat team used fans to air out the property while monitoring vapor levels. HazMat left the scene after 3:30 p.m. once the levels dropped below IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health) concentrations.

Two firefighters remained at the home to continue to vent and secure the property. Grant said the homeowners are still not permitted in the home. The contractor who employs the two injured workers will hire an environmental cleanup company to secure the home.

OSHA is also conducting an investigation to determine if the incident was caused by negligence. 

Staff were evacuated from an industrial laundry after a chemical spillage in Staffordshire.

Peroxides, acids and alkalines are thought to have been deliberately mixed together at Central Laundry in Burton-upon-Trent.

They spilled into the yard, a nearby road, footpaths and approximately 3,000 litres seeped into the drains.

Firefighters spent several hours clearing the scene before the all-clear was given at 0300 BST on Monday.

Seven crews from Burton, Barton-Under-Needwood, Chase Terrace, Lichfield and the Damage Limitation Unit from Hanley attended the scene.

Medical treatment
Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and gas-tight suits to clean up the spillage.

Eight workers at Central Laundry, which provides linen services to the healthcare, hospitality and education sectors, were also evacuated from the site and received medical treatment at the scene.

Paul Cullen, Assistant Area Commander for East Staffordshire, said: "The chemicals were mixing together and releasing hydrogen gas, which is extremely flammable.

"We used gas monitors to ensure it had evaporated before leaving the scene, as our main priority was to make certain there was no risk to the public."

Mr Cullen said the mixed chemicals posed no threat to the public although some people may be able to smell perfume or a bleach-type of aroma from some drains.

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- The Rochester Fire Department's Hazmat team responded to a home that became toxic after the resident tried to unclog a sink drain using, what seemed like simple household chemicals.

But what happened is becoming more common for fire crews.

David Hunter's trailer in southeast Rochester is airing out, after a toxic combination of chemicals forced him and his family to evacuate Thursday evening.

"I poured liquid plumber down the drain, two hours later I poured Runo down the drain and two hours later I poured another bottle of liquid plumber," says Hunter.

And that created a chemical so toxic, that even he didn't want us to go inside more than 12 hours later.

"It bubbled up started smoking and burning my eyes and I couldn't breathe so I got out of the house," says Hunter.

The Rochester Fire Department's Hazmat team responded.

But, Chief Steven Belau says these calls are more common than you think.

"About once a month," he says.

We had Chief Belau demonstrate what can happen when acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate, both commonly used in household cleaners, are mixed together.

"You'll be able to see a chemical reaction as the two combine," he says.

Although this combination isn't toxic, it is poisonous.

"Anytime you mix an ammonia-based product with a bleach or an acid you get a bad chemical reaction...scratchy throat irritated eyes if you're exposed for too long you can develop something called Pulmonary Edema which is where the little air sacks in the lungs lead fluid and it causes trouble breathing," he says.

A lesson, David Hunter learned the hard way.

"Don't mix two chemicals, use a product by itself and use it according to the label," says Capt. Ken Dose of the Rochester Fire Department.

Fire officials say if you accidentally combine chemicals and it creates a toxic reaction, you need to leave that area and call 911.

A 46-year-old man directly exposed to a corrosive chemical has been treated and released from the hospital.
Tulsa Fire Department Hazmat crews contained a chemical leak that sent nine workers to the hospital.

The leak happened around 10 a.m. at Old Dominion Freight Line in the 2900 block of Dawson Road in North Tulsa.

FOX23’s Abbie Alford was the first on the scene to report the danger the chemical, Chloromethyl Naphatalene can pose to a person.

A 55-gallon drum filled with the corrosive chemical to clean industrial materials exposed 15 employees to the dangerous fumes.

The chemicals seeped from a hole in a drum that the TFD says was punctured while it was being transported to Old Dominion Freight Line Friday morning.

"Instead of doing something safer with it, they basically turned it over on its side and let the exposed hole up in the air," says TFD District Chief Bill French.

The exposure sent a 46-year-old man immediately to the hospital and eight other were also de-contaminated before going to the hospital.

EMSA says the remaining workers refused hospital treatment.

"With this particular chemical some of the signs were not even present for the first 15 to 20 minutes," says EMSA Paramedic Chris Stevens.

BROOKSVILLE - A leaking bottle of polish under a sink caused 12 Central High School ROTC students to get sick Friday.

One teacher also was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion, firefighters said.

Hernando County Fire Rescue was called shortly before 10 a.m. for a suspicious gas leak, according to scanner reports.

Paramedics took the students to local hospitals after they complained of nausea and vomiting.

Normal school operations resumed an hour later after a HazMat unit determined the source of the leak and isolated the building, said Lt. Cinda Moore, a spokeswoman with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

The only chemicals known to be stored in the building are cleaning supplies, said Assistant Chief Frank DeFrancesco, a fire rescue spokesman.

"It was a container of polish with bleach in it and some of it leaked out under the sink," he said. "Whatever was residual there on the surface under the sink mixed with it and it caused a reaction. That's what we think happened."

Principal Joe Clifford said shortly before noon everything was back to normal at the school. Both he and Superintendent Bryan Blavatt were angry about initial media reports classifying it as a gas leak.

DICKINSON — A McAdams Junior High School student was accused of bottling a concoction of household cleaners that created an explosion in the school’s gym Tuesday, sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies monitoring the cafeteria about 2 p.m. heard a loud noise then saw smoke in the gym, Galveston County Sheriff’s Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said.

Christine Cervantes’ son, an eighth-grader at McAdams, felt the bleachers vibrate when the bottle exploded and said the noise was similar to a gunshot, she said.

Deputies found a plastic bottle filled with household cleaners and aluminum foil.

One of the substances was toilet cleaning fluid, Dickinson spokeswoman Tammy Dowdy said.

“It was not a bomb, despite what people thought,” Tuttoilmondo said.

“It was a chemical reaction of a combination of different household cleaners.”

The school nurse treated three students for minor chemical burns, but they did not need further medical treatment, Tuttoilmondo said.

The student was charged with arson and released to Galveston County juvenile authorities, Tuttoilmondo said.

FORT WORTH - Streets around the Dannon Yogurt plant in Fort Worth were closed off Monday as Hazmat crews worked to contain a chemical spill that sent one employee and an officer to a nearby hospital.
The Fort Worth Fire Department said the spill was a level two Hazmat situation at the plant located in the 1200 block of West Peter Smith Street. While the department said there was no serious threat to those in the surrounding area, the closures of the streets were done as an added precaution.
The incident began when a cleaning chemical, a low-grade acid, was spilled and then released a vapor Monday morning. Two employees were decontaminated at the scene by Hazmat crews, and one of them was taken to a nearby hospital. A Fort Worth police officer who responded to the call was also decontaminated and taken to a hospital after complaining of some breathing difficulty.

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- Three firefighters and one other person were taken to the hospital after being exposed to a chemical cloud created by a mix of cleaning solutions at a Lakewood building.
A custodian at the Lakewood Professional Center was mixing cleaning solutions which somehow created a chemical cloud that set off the building’s smoke detectors.
When the Lakewood Fire Department responded to the building in the 7500 block of Lakewood Drive, three firefighters and a woman cleaning the building began to feel eye irritation and nausea.
The crew left the building and the four people were taken to a local hospital as a precaution. All were OK and were later discharged.
A Department of Ecology spill response team worked for four hours at the building and is gathering the chemicals for disposal.

MARION — The Walmart store in Marion was evacuated and a dozen people were taken to the hospital after exposure to chemicals in the air, authorities said.
The patients suffered respiratory and eye irritation, but Marion Fire Chief Jim Neal said he doesn’t believe anyone was seriously injured.
Neal said a store employee cleaning bathrooms apparently mixed bleach with an absorbent and a chemical used in recreational vehicle septic tanks.
“It could have been a reaction between what she mixed together that caused the problem,” he said. “We do know that some kind of strong irritant resulted from it.”
McDowell County Emergency Medical Services Director William Kehler said personnel responded to the store on U.S. 70 around 6 p.m. Tuesday following a report of someone having difficulty breathing in the rear of the building.
The store was immediately evacuated and 12 people were taken to the emergency department at McDowell County Hospital, he said.

Hazmat officials were called to a Paradise Township home tonight after two boys were exposed to a mix of glue and gasoline.
The boys, 16, got glue on their hands while repairing the roof of a single-wide trailer. When they attempted to clean themselves with gasoline, the glue became toxic, officials said.
The mixture somehow spread to other parts of their bodies, said East Berlin Fire Company Capt. Kevin Brehm.
"They had the stuff all over their face and arms and hair and toes," Brehm said.
As to how it spread, Brehm said, "That's a mystery."
Brehm said the boys were taken to York Hospital, but he was unsure of their conditions.

No injuries or illnesses were reported early Tuesday morning when a nontoxic chemical seeped from two cargo containers aboard a vessel from China docked at the Port of Los Angeles, officials said.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Los Angeles Police and Fire departments arrived at Berth 303 shortly after the APL Tennessee pulled into the harbor around 4 a.m., said port spokesman Phillip Sanfield.
The captain of the ship apparently knew that last week two 20-foot-long cargo containers were leaking a white powder substance known as trichloroisocyanuric acid, an industrial disinfectant and bleaching agent with a strong chlorine odor.
The cause of the leak was attributed to the fact that the powder was placed in loose-fitting packaging, then mixed with coastal moisture, Sanfield said.
It was unclear how much of the substance had escaped from the cargo containers, but the Fire Department's hazards materials team deemed the situation as safe.

SIOUX CITY -- No one was seriously hurt after a chemical cloud forced the evacuation of the Tyson Events Center today in downtown Sioux City.
Sioux City firefighters and the department's HAZMAT unit responded to the reaction at 11:44 a.m. The building was evacuated, and responders cordoned off the south side of the Tyson Events Center parking lot, as well as the entrances to the Long Lines Family Rec Center, with yellow tape.
Assistant Sioux City Fire Chief Pat Flynn said the incident occurred when employees dropped Bromine tablets, an oxidizer they use instead of Chlorine, into the plastic piping that supplies water to the Tyson's outdoor water features.
He said the tablets reacted with leftover Glycol, an anti-freeze agent that is put into the system for the winter months. In addition to the cloud, the reaction caused heat that melted some of the plastic pipes.

Eight workers at a Franklin Park salad-packaging plant were sickened from by fumes from a bad mixture of cleaning solution Wednesday night.
Firefighters responded to the incident at the Midwest Fresh Farms Express Company at 11010 Addison Street around 11 p.m., according to Franklin Park fire chief David Traiforos.
"We evacuated the building because we believed initially there was a chlorine leak," he said. "What we found was a drum with a bad mixture just outside a work area that was close enough to workers to cause the injuries," he said.
Eight workers who complained of respiratory problems and eye irritation were transported to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood and Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, all apparently in good condition.
"Our paramedics were overwhelmed by a number of workers complaining, but no one was in serious condition," Traiforos said.
He said crews checked the building and determined there was no residual chlorine, and allowed the workers to return.

NORTH PLAINFIELD -- Eight students and teachers from East End Elementary School in North Plainfield were taken to the hospital today after chemical fumes spread through the second floor of the Oneida Avenue school, officials said.
None was considered seriously ill, borough Fire Chief William Eaton said.
The fumes were attributed to a chemical being used to unclog a drain on the second floor. Shortly after a teacher fell ill, officials evacuated the 475-student school as a precautionary measure. Students and teachers were taken to Hydewood Park Baptist Church two blocks away.
Shortly after the evacuation, a few more students and teachers began to feel ill, and ambulances from the borough rescue squad and Somerset Medical Center took eight people to the medical center as a precaution, Eaton said.

A Fresno city employee was hospitalized Monday afternoon after he was accidentally sprayed with a cleaning agent in east-central Fresno.
The unidentified employee was working about 1:30 p.m. along the side of a street near Helm and Hedges avenues when a city vehicle ran over a jug containing the cleaning agent, spraying the man, said Shandy Solis, Fresno Fire Department spokeswoman.
The man was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where he was expected to spend the night, Solis said.
Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/04/19/1902784/city-worker-sprayed-with-chemical.html#ixzz0ldYUffyp

LOWVILLE
Lowville firefighters spent three hours today cleaning up a toxic chemical spill inside the Lowville Producers Dairy Cooperative store, located at 7396 Utica Blvd., First Assistant Fire Chief Tim Bush said.
Earlier reports from people in the area incorrectly identified the location as the Lewis County Dairy Corporation, which also is located in Lowville.
Bush said the incident occurred at about 12:40 p.m. when chemicals were knocked off a shelf in a storage room at the store. Those chemicals, which included chlorine and ammonia, combined to form a toxic gas.
Bush could not say exactly what the gas released was, but chlorine and ammonia alone are capable of forming chlorine gas, which causes severe damage to the respiratory system and was used as a weapon during World War I.
Both chemicals are found in common household products such as bleach and window cleaners.

GOODYEAR, AZ -- A west Valley fitness center was evacuated late Tuesday morning after several people were overcome by chemical fumes.
Russ Braden of the Goodyear Fire Department said at least three employees were overcome and suffered other injures when the chlorine they were pouring into a system that fed to a jacuzzi built up pressure and splashed back on them.
The incident happened around 11:15 a.m. at the facility located at 145th Avenue and McDowell Road.
Braden said one employee was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix with facial injuries and two other employees were taken to a local hospital with injuries to the lower part of their body.
Two other people complained of respiratory issues, but were not transported, Braden said.

LONG BRANCH — Emergency workers remain at the scene of a small chemical fire that led to the evacuation of some residents at an Atlantic Avenue apartment complex early this morning.
The fire was reported around 3:25 a.m.
A powdered chemical, which may have been drain cleaner, had been stored inside a 55-gallon drum in a storage room at the Pleasure Bay Apartments, police said.
The chemical got wet, and that caused a reaction that started a fire, said Lt. Michael McGlennon.
Three people - a firefighter and two residents - felt ill from the fumes and were evaluated on scene, he said. The residents were then transported to Monmouth Medical Center in the city.