On March 16, at 3:45 p.m., two semi trucks collided in front of Fiesta Mart in Chouteau. One of the trucks was carrying battery acid while the other was carrying cleaning chemicals. The combination of the two spills caused a chemical reaction that put off a smokeless fume.

When Chouteau Fire Department arrived, Brandon along with fellow firefighter Troy Schopp went around the right side of the wreck to check the scene. Brandon said about 10 minutes later when they went to move the fire truck upwind from the scene, Schopp began to complain that he couldn’t breathe.

“I couldn’t catch my breath. It felt like someone was strangling you,” Schopp said.

Schopp was then transported to St. Francis Hospital, in Tulsa where personnel did a chest x-ray and gave him a breathing treatment. Schopp a nurse at Cancer Treatment Center of America, said he was released the same day.

CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Police booking office had to suspend operations for around an hour Saturday night after two suspects, Joseph Eric Frazier, 33, and Bobby Jo Vance, 28, were brought in from a possible meth lab. Officers processing the pair of suspects, arrested after the Lee Street apartment they were in exploded earlier in the evening, noticed a strong chemical odor on the men.
As a precaution for the suspects safety, as well as to prevent exposing officers to chemicals, the fire department decontaminated the pair. The booking office was aired out and cleaned.

The situation was not as bad as initially believed but police supervisors were not taking any chances.

About 70 primary school children have been exposed to asbestos when a science lesson explosion lifted ceiling tiles in a Berkshire school hall.

Pupils were evacuated from the hall at St Mary's in Kintbery, Hungerford, when a chemical test involving a hydrogen balloon caused a "sonic reaction".

Dust that fell from the ceiling tested positive for a small level of asbestos.

Health and safety officers kept the children's uniforms for testing and the pupils were sent home in their PE kits.

The hall has been sealed off and all parents have been informed.

A West Berkshire Council spokesman said: "I can confirm that during a science lesson at the school today, a planned chemical reaction involving a hydrogen balloon, resulted in a sonic reaction that lifted ceiling tiles in the hall releasing dust.

Sheena West thought the odor permeating her home was roach spray. Renee Grimes' husband told her he smelled something rotten in the apartment.

They were among the more than two dozen people evacuated Wednesday after several people in the Hays Manor housing complex in McKees Rocks were sickened by fumes from a herbicide a worker was spraying on the lawn, said Alvin Henderson Jr., acting chief of the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services.

Ten people -- four of them children -- were taken to hospitals where they were treated and released, said Charles Maritz, a battalion chief for the McKees Rocks Volunteer Fire Department.

"The worker said he sprayed about 9:15 a.m. He said he was an old farmer and that he mixed the herbicide with kerosene so it would stick (to the lawn)," Maritz said.

Four children have been taken to hospital as a precaution after fears they may have come into contact with waste chemicals near a dental practice, police said.
Firefighters said they were called to reports of a spillage of mercury capsules at the dentist's surgery in Market Place, Whitburn, West Lothian, at around 5.20pm.
But Lothian and Borders Police said there had been no spillage and it was thought youngsters may have been contaminated with traces of chemical residue from waste products at the rear of the dental surgery.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said earlier this afternoon: "Four children and one adult were taken to St John's Hospital. Two pumps and other specialist vehicles were sent to the scene. They cleared up the spillage."
The Scottish Ambulance Service said they were called by the fire service and sent two ambulances and four specialist vehicles to the scene.
"There was a report of a chemical spillage," a spokesman added.
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said tonight: "Ambulance and fire and rescue services were in attendance and the four children were taken, purely as a precautionary measure, to St Johns Hospital in Livingston. They were shortly thereafter reunited with their parents. No medical treatment was required.

A floor refinishing operation made several employees at an industrial warehouse in Fife sick this morning, the Tacoma Fire Department reported.

Fire and hazardous materials crews were called to the warehouse at 3500 Industry Drive E. just before 7:30 a.m. today.

Several employees reported feeling sick from a strong, unknown odor. Fire crews investigated and discovered a floor refinishing operation in another part of the building was causing the smell.

The sickened employees were evaluated by paramedics. The building was ventilated.

The Chemistry Building was reopened at 2:15 p.m. after workers in the building smelled a strange odor that made them feel nauseated and called 911.

There were no dangerous or harmful chemicals found, and the cause of the odor detected by the workers is still unknown.

The Lee County Hazardous Materials Team searched the building using specialized equipment and protection, but were unable to find any dangerous chemicals, even after inspecting the building a second time with no protection, said Chance Corbett, associate director of emergency management for Auburn University public safety.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- One hundred people were evacuated from the Sacramento County Human Assistance building at 10013 Folsom Boulevard at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday because of chemical fumes.
County employees returned to work about an hour later, after Sacramento Metro Fire was called to investigate complaints of a chemical odor.
Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum said a hazmat team determined the odor was coming from a spray texture material being used on a remodeling project and was not harmful. He said nobody required treatment.

Dozens of people, mostly children, were treated for unknown respiratory ailments Saturday after swimming in a South Lubbock hotel pool.

Dozens of people, mostly children, were treated for unknown respiratory ailments Saturday after swimming in a South Lubbock hotel pool.

First responders set up a medical triage in front of Embassy Suites hotel, Slide Road and South Loop 289, to treat 24 people who started having trouble breathing while in and around the hotel’s indoor swimming pool.

Lebanon - Students at a Lebanon school were forced to evacuate due to chemical fumes in the building Friday.

All of the students at Central Elementary School are safe, the school said.

The school called 911 at 12:23 pm to report that fumes had entered the building, causing some students to feel sick. An evacuation was already in progress.

The Lebanon Fire Department later determined that solvent fumes from roof maintenance had somehow entered the building's air handling system.

19 students were checked by EMS at the scene for minor complaints of sore throat, headache and nausea. None were transported from the scene and they were allowed to rejoin their classes.

A chemical spill at the CLM waste transfer station on Werz Industrial Boulevard Wednesday morning sent three employees to the hospital for evaluation.

Newnan Fire Department responded to the call, and the spill was ultimately cleaned up by a professional hazardous materials company, according to Newnan Fire Department Battalion Chief Denise Freeman.

The incident occurred just after 10 a.m. at 129 Werz Industrial Boulevard -- a CLM Sanitation-operated transfer station where waste is sorted and shipped to various locations. The call was dispatched as a possible fire that began as the result of chemicals that had been mixed together. Newnan Engine 1 was the first to arrive at the scene. Firefighters reported finding a white vapor coming from the building. Sgt. Bart Henson ordered three employees to evacuate the immediate vicinity, according to Freeman.

One of the employees reported that he was moving a pile of debris when it began smoking. Assuming it was a fire, he poured water on it, but the debris started "popping and smoking more," according to Freeman.

Those three employees were decontaminated at the scene and then transported to Piedmont Newnan Hospital where they were treated and released after a brief evaluation, according to Freeman.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A man cleaning a tanker truck passed out due to low levels of oxygen, fire crews said.
The Kern County Fire Department said that about 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday, a call was received about an unconscious man inside a tank in the 7100 block of Golden State Highway.
Crews said a man was found unconscious inside a tanker trailer carrying residual crude oil.
The man had been cleaning the tank with a citrus chemical when a coworker noticed him unconscious, according to the KCFD.
Crews immediately began to monitor the air within the tank for potential hazards prior to making entry.
An air system was placed inside the tank after determining high levels of flammable vapors and low levels of oxygen.

A mystery ailment sickened 26 people, sending nine to the hospital at a law firm and call center here. What made everyone ill is still under investigation, authorities told Fox 13.

"We were just taking phone calls, doing our work and a couple of employees just started becoming nauseous," said Jay Rowley, who reported feeling light headed after smelling "propane like fumes."

Hazardous material crews this afternoon have secured a chemical spill in the city's Bridgeport neighborhood, authorities said.

It remained unclear exactly what chemical was spilled in the 2800 block of South Archer Avenue, just south of the Stevenson Expressway.

Two city garbage collectors came into contact with an item that emitted a strange odor, police spokesman Robert Perez said, citing an initial report.

One of the men, who complained of feeling ill, was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center for treatment, fire department spokesman Richard Rosado said. He was unsure of the patient's condition.

Fire crews were called to the scene about 12:30 p.m. and asked for a precautionary hazardous materials call, Rosado said. Fire officials secured the scene by 1:35 p.m., he added.

A chemical company has been sentenced after a worker suffered toxic burns to his arms and chest at an Ellesmere Port factory.

The employee at Abacus Chemical Ltd was mixing two chemicals together on 7 May 2009 when they exploded, causing him to be drenched in a hot, toxic chemical solution.

The company was prosecuted in a joint case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Environment Agency following the incident at its plant on Oil Sites Road in Ellesmere Port.

Chester Magistrates' Court, sitting in Knutsford, heard that the company had mixed 22 kilograms of sodium cyanide pellets with hydrogen peroxide to make them less toxic. By taking this action, Abacus avoided having to pay a licensed hazardous waste company to dispose of the pellets at a cost of less than £300.

KENT, Wash. -- Dozens of people evacuated a downtown Kent apartment building after some reported difficulty breathing late Sunday night.
Police said 50 evacuated the building on West Smith Street and a hazmat team responded.
Firefighters used a large fan to clear out the fumes from what they determined was pepper spray.
One person went to the hospital to get checked out but everyone else was OK.
There was no word on where the pepper spray came from.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three Nitro city workers exposed to a chemical while collecting garbage on Monday may have been sprayed with nothing more dangerous than household bleach.

Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto said the workers were compacting trash in their garbage truck on 18th Street at about 10 a.m. when something in one of the garbage bags burst, spraying the workers with an unknown chemical.

"It looks like it was bleach," Casto said Monday afternoon. "They found bleach [in the trash] and they found weed killer."

Officials did not initially know what the men had been exposed to. Casto said two of the employees were taken to CAMC General Hospital. The third refused treatment.

Two FedEx employees in Medford received medical care last night after inhaling suspicious materials from a package they were transporting, according to Medford fire officials.

The 911 call came in about 8 p.m. from a passerby who noticed a FedEx delivery driver on the ground at Meadow Glenn Mall on Mystic Valley Parkway, Deputy Fire Chief Martin Cunniff said.

Cunniff said the driver had opened the door of his truck to retrieve a package when he was overcome by fumes from another package. He was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford.

A WAGGA hazmat team was left stumped yesterday about the source of noxious fumes which left four employees of Kurrajong Waratah Recyclers in hospital.
Initially believed to be a chemical spill, the incident brought police, a hazmat team, firefighters and paramedics to the facility around 1pm, after the employees were overcome by fumes.

The building was evacuated while the fire brigade and paramedics were called.

Fire and rescue duty commander for the Wagga area Duncan White said an unknown chemical had escaped from a steel can while it was being crushed and baled.

"It became apparent a can had erupted with some sort of chemical escaping which left five workers overcome. Four were taken to hospital, with one who refused transport," he said.

An unusual odor inside a Kent building sickened five people this morning, but the city’s Hazmat team was unable to find anything out of the ordinary.

Several employees of the business, which is located in the 6300 block of S. 199th Place, were examined by members of the Kent Fire Department after complaining of an odd smell just before 11 a.m.

Five employees reported feeling ill, and two were sent to the hospital as a precaution.

A Hazmat team evacuated the building and took air samples. The samples didn’t show anything unusual and employees were allowed back in the building at noon. An outside company was also brought in to examine the building’s ventilation system.

According to a Kent Fire Department news release, the affected business works with plastic films and adhesives.

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Hazardous materials crews were called to Medford after a scare in a delivery truck on Thursday night.

Crews were not exactly sure what chemical it was that they were dealing with, but crews are focusing their attention on a FedEx truck.

The driver of that truck was on the interstate when all of a sudden he felt ill. He became nauseous and light headed, causing him to pull over in a Medford parking lot, where he then called police.

Police, fire and paramedics arrived on scene. They immediately transported the driver to the hospital and brought in hazmat teams.

“We don’t know. It could be a solvent, it could be paint; a mixture of something in that nature. It made the individual quite sick and we did transport him to the hospital,” said one official.

Emergency crews then crawled all over a delivery truck searching for something that made the driver sick in Medford.

Crews removed a box from the truck, put it in a hazardous materials container, and took it for more testing.

Suspicious package forces evacuation 20/20 Eyecare Centers in

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- HazMat teams evacuated the 20/20 Eyecare Centers at 806 Regal Drive on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, after fumes from a "suspicious package" affected two employees.

Huntsville Fire & Rescue erect a decontamination tent outside 20/20 Eyecare Center after a suspicious package was discovered by employees. Two employees were decontaminated and transported to Huntsville Hospital. (The Huntsville Times/Dave Dieter)
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- HazMat teams evacuated the 20/20 Eyecare Centers at 806 Regal Drive this afternoon after fumes from a "suspicious package" affected two employees.
HazMat units, Huntsville Fire & Rescue and the HEMSI ambulance service responded to the call between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m. HazMat set up a decontamination unit to treat two employees who came in contact with the packages, according to Steve Oliver, District Chief for Huntsville Fire & Rescue.
The employees were cleaned and taken to Huntsville Hospital for evaluation and treatment.
According to an employee, Jared Pittenger, the package smelled like kerosene. Pittenger said it gave him a headache and he felt lightheaded but he refused treatment. The two employees were complaining of nausea and headaches.
It appeared as if something had spilled onto the package, perhaps in the delivery truck that delivered it earlier today. The package contained frames and frame cases and the contents were not disturbed.
Initial tests on the package by Huntsville Fire & Rescue failed to register on instruments, officials said.

A man at a Manorhaven, N.Y., jewelry store may have been exposed to excessive amounts of cyanide March 1, the Nassau County Fire Marshal tells JCK.

Following limited evacuation, Nassau County Fire Marshal spokesperson Vincent McManus says hazardous materials crews discovered open products containing cyanide at the store. 

“They were able to reseal the open containers,” he says. “As a precaution they treated the whole scene.”

The store owner—who had called 911 himself after feeling faint—was transported to St. Francis Hospital around 3:40 a.m. Initial tests detected cyanide in the man’s system. His condition was not immediately known.

McManus says no one else was exposed to the chemical and the hazmat team determined the area was safe.

Cyanide is commonly used in the jewelry industry—as an ingredient in cleaning solutions, for example—but McManus says it is rare for someone to become ill from exposure.

ANSONIA, Conn. -- A hazmat situation was reported in Ansonia on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident was reported before 5 p.m. at Auto Repairs Unlimited on Main Street.
Employees there called authorities after the business filled with a mist after an employee opened a gas tank on a vehicle. Employees said they believe someone poured acid into the gas tank as an act of vandalism. When an employee opened the tank, a mist sprayed out and burned him in the face.
Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection said a car was towed to the shop from Derby. The owner was complaining the car wasn't running correctly. When mechanic began working on the car, he suffered chemical burns. He refused treatment.

The illness that sparked hazardous materials responses to three locations Tuesday in Oxnard was apparently caused by vapor from a 5-gallon water bottle filled with gasoline, according to the Oxnard Fire Department.

The incident began about 9 a.m. after an Oxnard Environmental Resources worker became ill after the trash truck he was on picked up a dumpster behind Transfresh Corp., 1001 Industrial Ave., said Deborah O'Malia, a spokeswoman for the Oxnard Fire Department. The man was taken to an occupational health clinic on Outlet Center Drive in Oxnard.

Early reports indicated the man was sickened by an unknown chemical, and authorities initially believed the chemical may have been in the dumpster, which was taken to the city's recycling facility, O'Malia said.

Because the chemical involved was unknown, hazardous materials teams responded as a precaution to all of the locations that could have been contaminated — standard protocol in such situations, O'Malia said. The recycling center was evacuated as a precaution; workers at Transfresh were asked to shelter in place.

New London - An independent contractor hired to paint the floor at the city's wastewater treatment plant was injured Monday and rushed to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital.
Police and fire officials are investigating the incident which "appeared to be a chemical burn related to an accidental discharge,'' police said.
The accident occurred about noon at the plant on Trumbull Street in Fort Trumbull.
Barry Weiner, chairman of the Water and Water Pollution Control Authority said he could not disclose the nature of the injuries because the incident is under investigation.

SEATTLE -- Hazmat crews responded to a report of a chemical odor at a building on the campus of the University of Washington on Friday.
An alert e-mailed to students, staff and faculty said, "Chemical Spill at Parrington Hall. Evacuation in progress. Avoid the area until further notice."
The building, Parrington Hall, houses the university's Graduate School of Public Affairs, according to the UW's website.
The Fire Department later told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that it was nothing dangerous.

Both directions of Interstate 71 are reopened on the north side after a hazmat incident that hospitalized six people, including four law enforcement officers.

According to the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, the incident began as a traffic stop on I-71 south near Polaris Parkway.

During the traffic stop, deputies said they noticed an odd smell.

Inside the car, they found a suspected mobile meth lab along with chemicals powdered lidocaine and magnesium carbonate. They also found bath salts inside.

Four law enforcement officers were transported to OSU Medical Center for decontamination.  All four have been released. 

DECATUR, AL (WAFF) - An ammonia leak at the Wayne Farms West plant in Decatur forced the an evacuation of its employees Thursday morning.

Decatur fire was called to the plant around midnight. Fire trucks and HAZMAT crews responded but Wayne Farms had already contained the leak internally.

NASHUA - Firefighters were dispatched to BAE Systems at 65 Spitbrook Road to evaluate three persons after a minor chemical spill involving "some kind of acid" this morning, according to radio transmissions.
The incident was reported shortly before 7 a.m. People at the firm told fire dispatchers the spill had been contained, and security officers would escort rescuers inside, to evaluate three affected people. Firefighters promptly reported back that the incident was under control, and that four people had "minimal to no contact" with the chemical, but needed to be taken to a hospital to be checked out to comply with company protocols.

SANPETE COUNTY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Four students were taken to the hospital after a Hazmat situation at Snow College.

Police in Sanpete County say the students were in the Science Building when they passed out.

Hazmat crews quarantined the other students and teachers in the building to be checked out.

Investigators are now looking into possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

ELGIN — In just four days, 53 people were taken to Elgin-area hospitals because the air they were breathing was making them sick. And except for the number of victims involved, that’s not an unusual situation.

It was mid-Friday afternoon, coming up on a weekend for the workers in the Unisol Co. warehouse in the Elgin-O’Hare Commerce Center building on Route 25, just south of the Elgin city line. Several people reported feeling headachy and nauseous — as if they had the flu. Finally, one woman reportedly fell unconscious and went into convulsions.

When firefighters arrived, they discovered that workers in many of the other 10 or 11 companies that rent space in this big converted factory also were feeling headachy, nauseous or dizzy. Firefighters’ sensors revealed the air contained more than 10 times the safe level of carbon monoxide. Fourteen ambulances converged on the scene and took 38 people to five hospitals. Five were so ill that they were held for at least one night in Elgin’s Sherman Hospital, at least one of those in the critical care unit.

Investigators from the South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection District later determined that the carbon monoxide probably came from one of two propane-burning forklifts that had been operating that afternoon inside the Unisol warehouse. The case has been referred to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for further investigation.

FIREFIGHTERS tackled a chemical blaze at a Halstead factory.

The fire broke out at 11.12am yesterday in Broton Drive.

A spokesman for the fire service said two men, a 53-year-old and a 43-year-old, were taken ill and treated by paramedics after they noticed an unusual smell.

A further three were then treated on scene after suffering from exposure to the mystery gas.

Firefighters set up a decontamination unit and crews in gas tight suits entered the building to investigate.

The building was ventilated and left it in the care of the owners who will be working with the Health and Safety Executive to establish the cause of the incident and the type of gas involved.

A man and a 10-year-old child were riding on northbound Interstate 95 in a pest control pickup truck, Monday morning. Reportedly, the child was suffering from a seizure and the man was feeling sick, so they pulled off to the side of the road just north of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach.

The driver of the truck became overcome by chemicals and was transported to the hospital. The young boy who was with him suffered serious injuries and was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

Authorities reportedly returned to the scene of the truck to determine the nature of the fumes. The West Palm Beach Fire Department was the first to arrive on scene. Several police and fire agencies, including HazMat crews, the FBI and the Department of Children and Families, later responded to the scene. The heavy police presence caused traffic on I-95 to be backed up for hours.

Four firefighters and a HazMat worker were overcome by the fumes emanating from the vehicle and were treated at the scene; they are expected to be OK. The chemical found in the truck was deemed dangerous, and firefighters who approached the pickup truck had to be hosed off immediately after getting up close to the vehicle.

Two Elgin firefighters and a police officer were taken to area hospitals Monday night after each became ill at the scene of a hazardous materials call at an apartment building.

Emergency crews were called to investigate the hazmat call at a six-flat apartment building on the 1100 block of Birch Drive at about 5:20 p.m., officials said.

The caller reported a strange smell that caused watery eyes and left a “metallic taste,” according to Elgin spokeswoman Susan Olafson. Arriving crews quickly ruled out natural gas as the cause, but remained on the scene to find the cause.

Eventually, the odor dissipated on its own and no injuries were initially reported, until two firefighters and a police officer became ill and were taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Olafson said.

One firefighter and the police officer complained of chest pains, while the second firefighter developed high blood pressure symptoms. Twelve residents also were taken to area hospitals with nausea and throat irritation.

AURORA, Colo. --  Officials say one man was treated at the hostpital after inhaling drain cleaner fumes in his Aurora apartment.

At about 7:55 p.m. a man called 911 and said he had suddenly become sick at his apartment in Del Mar Circle.

When HazMat crews arrived they found a pot on the stove with chemicals in it giving off fumes.

The man told officials that he thought boiling the drain cleaner would make it more effective. He said the gas fumes made him dizzy.

Hazmat crews in Virginia are trying to figure out what’s causing a suspicious odor near a group of homes in Stafford.
The odor was reported yesterday near seven homes on Short Branch Lane near Woodstream Boulevard. Five families that live in that section of homes were evacuated and spent last night in a hotel.
Hazmat crews, along with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, are at scene trying to determine the source of the smell. Crews have found high levels of methane in the soil near the homes, but that doesn’t necessarily explain the strong smell.
Electricity has been shut off to the homes in the area as a precaution and the Red Cross is assisting those residents who were evacuated.

SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Fire Department, a hazmat crew and Animal Care Services are in the process of removing about 30 cats from a Northside home.
Teams from Animal Care Services arrived at the home, located in the 500 block of Olney, around mid-morning on Wednesday.
Before they could enter the home, hazmat crews went inside to check the ammonia levels. That ammonia was the result of cat urine inside.
Officials said the situation first came to light when EMS crews responded to a call for a stroke.
The homeowner was taken to the hospital and Animal Care Services was called to deal with the cats.