BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Bill Williams Elementary School will be closed Tuesday following an incident Monday in which 30 students were exposed to Mercury.

According to a city fire spokesman, one class was quarantined after a student dropped a vial of Mercury. Bakersfield Fire responded with its Hazardous Materials Team and later brought out a decontamination trailer to treat the affected students. Environmental Health also responded and the students were released to their parents after being checked out.

"They had to get us out of the classroom and then wash our feet and hands and put on booties," said Williams student Trisha Uziah. "Then they had to use a monitor to see if there was any mercury left on us."

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid in its natural state. It is highly toxic, especially if ingested. The element is commonly used in thermometers, barometers and other scientific apparatus.

District assistant superintendent Gerrie Kincaide said the school will be closed Tuesday on the advise of Environmental Health. That will allow investigators time to assess other classrooms to make sure exposure levels are as they should be. If it turns out they're not, it will allow enough time for proper treatment.

No illnesses were reported. It's not believed that students will suffer any ill effects from the exposure.

Fire brigade jawans take seven hours to rescue another labourer who slipped into the 125-feet-high boiler while trying to save colleague
 

Long ordeal: Fire brigade officials said the boiler contained a hot mixture of chemicals. Pic/Sushant Kulkarni

Fire brigade officials rescued a labourer who ”in order to save another man trapped inside a 12.5 feet high chemical boiler ”had slipped inside the boiler.
 
The incident took place at ROC Chemicals private limited company located at Nasrapur, about 40 km from the city. According to the police, the company deals with chemical paints and is owned by a man named Pandit.

Fire brigade jawans had got a call at around 4.40 pm yesterday evening that two people had fallen in a chemical boiler. Chief Fire Officer Prashant Ranpise along with his team comprising of two fire tenders and about 10 jawans reached the spot and started the rescue operation.

An employee was taken to  the hospital after he accidentally mixed several chemicals together while trying to unclog a urinal at an interstate truck stop.

Members of the  Loudon County Fire and Rescue along with the Loudon County Sheriff's Office responded to the Knox West Travel Center on Watt Road off I-40 Exit 339 just before 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Officials say the employee mixed together drain cleaner and bleach causing a toxic gas.

Two other people were treated, but refused transportation to the hospital.

More than 12 hours after a gas leak led to a scare in many parts of central Mumbai on Saturday morning around 8.30am, fire and civic authorities are still looking for the source of the gas leak which left many complaining of itchy eyes, coughing and nausea.
While admitting that the symptoms pointed strongly to the possibility that the leaked gas was ammonia, none of the authorities were willing to go on record saying so.

In the past seven months this is the fourth gas leak in the metropolitan region, which has thrown light on the casual attitude of authorities regarding gas leak incidents. In July 2010, there was a chlorine leak at Haji Bunder in Sewri which sent 123 people to the hospital. In the same month, a chlorine gas leak occurred in Bhivandi.

On Saturday morning, people residing in Matunga, Dadar and Mahim complained of a burning sensation in the eyes as well as sore throats. A fire brigade rushed to the spot to find the source of gas leak, but failed.

Authorities suspected it to be an ammonia gas leak. However, since none of the affected areas have industries in their vicinity, the source of the leak proved to be a puzzle. Fire officials even contacted Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilizers (RCF) in Chembur and other chemical units in the surrounding area to trace the leak but were unsuccessful.

An unknown odor shut down part of a major road Friday night.

California Highway Patrol closed a part of Highway 111 in the North Shore area, from Bay Drive through Garfield. They say the smell was too much to handle.

A Riverside County Hazmat team was called in but couldn't determine where the smell was coming from. The road was reopened around 7 p.m. Friday night.

This is the same area where a smell has sickened staff and students at Saul Martinez Elementary School.

FOUR PEOPLE WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL TODAY AFTER A CHLORINE GAS LEAK AT A WESTSIDE RECYCLING BUSINESS.

Four people were taken to the hospital today after a chlorine gas leak at a Westside recycling business.  it happened just before noon today at Southern Metals Recycling on Tremont Avenue.

According to Savannah Fire, employees began to dismantle a 200 pound cylinder for recycling -- they didn't know at the time it contained Chlorine, which began leaking.

A full hazmat response was issued to contain the leak and OSHA was called in to investigate.

Officials say the four employees that were exposed suffered various degrees of respiratory distress.

A mystery chemical caused breathing difficulties for students at Barrie's St. Joseph's High School on Friday, sending some to hospital.

"Apparently they have inhaled some sort of chemical," said Fire Chief John Lynn. "We don't know what it is or what caused it.

"Our crews went in and did air monitoring, but we couldn't find anything."

A total of 26 St. Joe's students went to Barrie Royal Victoria Hospital, 19 by city bus and the rest by ambulance, hospital officials said.
More than half the students were released immediately into parental care. A few were triaged through the emergency department, but none were admitted.

The fire department's hazardous materials unit was on the scene Friday afternoon investigating the suspicious chemical.

St. Joe's was evacuated at about noon because of the incident.

We are learning more about a hazardous materials situation in Northumberland County on Monday that sent three people to the hospital, including two EMS workers who had to be decontaminated.

Eric Shrawder, the EMS chief for the Dalmatia area, used his ambulance to treat the chemical burned patient. It was no routine call. Shrawder himself became the patient.

"I leaned down to undo his buckle and belt and I got a whiff of this odor that I can't explain. It took my breath away. I told my driver you need to pull over," said Shrawder.

It's all started Monday when a man who claimed he jumped from a train and ended up near Herndon complaining of severe burns. 911 was called and Shrawder and a coworker treated the man in the ambulance. That's when both were overcome by fumes. A Hazmat team was called and all three were decontaminated.

Macedonia police arrested two people Tuesday afternoon for allegedly running a methamphetamine lab from a motel room after guests at the Highland Road motel complained chemical smells were coming from a nearby room around 5:15 p.m.

Police responding to the scene said that when then went into the room, they found a hot plate being used to heat chemicals and a pressurized container of chemicals.

Police seized the equipment, a small quantity of methamphetamine and took the two — a 35-year-old Garfield Heights man and a 26-year-old Akron woman to the Macedonia City Jail.  They are facing charges of felony manufacturing methamphetamine, assembly of chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug abuse instruments.

What was thought to possibly be a hazardous materials incident involving a freight train near Jessup drew some 30 fire and police personnel from Anne Arundel and Howard counties to the scene on Tuesday afternoon, according to Anne Arundel County Fire Division Chief Michael Cox.

At 1:40 p.m., officials were alerted to potential leakage of hazardous materials coming from a train crossing the Anacostia Bridge outside Washington, D.C., said Cox.

The concern came after several contractors working on the tracks outside Washington, D.C., had begun to exhibit "respiratory symptoms," said Cox.

Coincidentally, he said, the same symptoms arose last week as well.

Emergency crews and a hazardous materials team were called out Monday morning near Herndon after a man reported a possible chemical burn.

According to state police, a man had illegally ridden the train from Philadelphia to Northumberland County. He got off the train near Herndon, and troopers say medical personnel were called to treat the man for severe burns on his abdomen. State police say it is not known where the man suffered his injuries. A news release late Monday night stated there is no evidence the man was burned on the train.

Paramedics with the Dalmatia Area Ambulance League responded to the location off Route 147 to treat the man and they, too, reacted to the suspected chemical. Hazardous materials crews were called in and decontaminated all three men. A nearby park was closed as a precaution.

"When the ambulance crew interfaced with him they started getting sick and that's when they called for a Hazmat team," said Assistant Fire Chief Ron Hinkley of Herndon Fire Company.

The man was brought into an ambulance that will now have to be decontaminated both inside and out.

Tenants of a Yellowknife apartment complex were allowed to return to their units late Monday morning, after emergency crews spent several hours investigating a strong chemical smell in the building.

RCMP and the Yellowknife Fire Division evacuated 100 Beck Court around 5 a.m. MT, after they confirmed reports of a "strong odour" on the building's second floor.

The fire division's hazardous-materials team identified the smell in a part of the hallway on the second floor, but it could not pinpoint the source of the odour, Deputy Chief Jason Davidson said.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Four workers were killed and three others injured when they were exposed to toxic fumes while cleaning tanks at a chemical plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, the fire department said Sunday.

The accident happened Saturday afternoon at the plant in Jardin Santo Amaro, a neighborhood in the southern section of Sao Paulo.

The workers were wearing masks, but they were overcome by toxic fumes from sulfuric and muriatic acid, which are used for routine cleaning at the nickel-processing plant.

Firefighters found one person dead at the scene and four others in serious condition.

One of the men died while being transported to the hospital, the fire department said.

Firefighters found two other victims inside the tank.

BALDWIN, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A dangerous trend from Japan is popping up in Michigan.

Police in Baldwin have reported the state's second 'detergent suicide.'

A car full of deadly chemical gas was found just south of Baldwin.

Part of the suicide method calls for notes to be left on the windows, warning of the dangerous gas inside.

The Big Rapids Fire Department's hazmat crew was called to the scene to deal with the situation.

Police say if you come across a similar incident, stay away and call police.

Firefighters say Polyurethane fumes are to blame for a number of people saying they feel sick at a new Beaumont elementary school campus today.

A Beaumont Fire Department dispatcher says nobody had to be taken to the hospital, but around 11:50 AM, the Beaumont Fire Department was called to reports of fumes making people sick at Martin Elementary at 3500 Pine Street.   That is a new school campus in North Beaumont.  Firefighters discovered the fumes were coming from some contractors putting sealant on the floor in the school's gym.  The fumes had drifted from the gym into the rest of the building.  The building was sealed off and the fire department is using a fan to help ventilate the facility. 

(01-13) 14:51 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Seven San Francisco middle school students were taken to hospitals Thursday after ingesting small amounts of rat poison they found on top of a classroom filing cabinet, thinking the single blue cube was candy, fire officials said.

The Martin Luther King Jr. students, who showed no symptoms other than fear, were transported to three local hospitals, but were not expected to suffer any harmful consequences, said Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.

Talmadge said one of the students found the small cube and took a little nibble and told classmates it tasted like a cookie.

Six others, boys and girls ranging in age from 10 to 12, then licked or bit pieces of the 1.5-inch cube of poison and either swallowed or spit it out.

EAST WINDSOR — A township cop and Capital Health emergency medical technician were sickened and hospitalized Monday morning after being exposed to hallucinogenic PCP, a potent drug known on the streets “animal tranquilizer,” “embalming fluid,” and “angel dust,” cops said.

The incident began about 10:30 a.m. when a township cop escorted a man out of the East Windsor Municipal Court after the man reported he felt ill from consuming a substance suspected to be a PCP-laced cigarette, cops said.

The cop located the drugs in the man’s possession, and then the cop started to experience lightheadedness, according to township police, who didn’t identify the cop or suspected PCP man by name.

Not long afterward, the unnamed Capital Health EMT experienced lightheadedness while treating the suspected PCP man in an ambulance parked in front of township police headquarters, cops said.

The last of a group of 13 hunters exposed to a dangerous chemical that killed four of their hunting dogs was released Friday from KershawHealth.
Health officials suspect the chemical was the agricultural pesticide Temik, and an expert from Clemson Extension’s pesticide office were en route to Lee County early Friday to help with the case, said Lt. Robert McCullough of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
Three adult hunters and one 11-year-old boy were admitted to the health center on Thursday, said spokeswoman Judy Ferrell. The center was placed in lockdown mode, with state health officials and county emergency officials notified. The other hunters in the group also went through detoxification procedures.

ATLANTA - A piece of mail shut down a building Georgia Southern University in Statesboro Wednesday. Emergency workers quarantined employees inside after an envelope containing white powder was found on campus.

Officials say the powder came with admission papers sent to Lewis Hall. Many people were taken through decontamination.

A hazmat team took the powder to the CDC for testing.

About 260 people were evacuated from a building in downtown Tokyo after a chemical odor and white smoke engulfed the structure, sickening four men, firefighters have announced.

The Tokyo Fire Department is investigating the cause of the odor, which struck Nihon Building in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on the morning of Jan. 8.

A security guard at the building called an ambulance at around 10:10 a.m., saying, "An alarm sounded and there's a chemical odor in the basement."

Firefighters who rushed to the scene found white smoke coming from the first basement floor and detected hydrogen cyanide and sulfurous acid gas.

Georgia Southern University is investigating an envelope an employee received this morning that contained a suspicious white powder.

University police responded at 8:53 a.m.

The envelope was received at Lewis Hall which is an administrative building that houses the University's Office of Admissions.

HazMat teams were called to the university as a precaution and are trying to identify the substance.  Lewis Hall has also been quarantined.

Bucks County officials are calling this a "mass casualty" incident.
A call was placed to emergency services around 9:40 a.m. reporting people fainting at the church on Almshouse Road. Police, fire officials, and hazmat teams quickly responded to the scence. Members of the first response crew that entered the church were also sickened by the fumes.
The county labeled the event "code yellow," requiring additional emergency workers.
The church had been filling up with people who had come for the 10 a.m. service. There were about 300 people inside the church at the time of the incident. While emergency responders went to work, churchgoers held Mass outside on the church parking lot.

EIGHT people were given medical treatment following a chemical leak at Russells Hall Hospital last night.

West Midlands Fire Service was called to the hospital following the chemical incident in the ground floor laundry.

Alongside fire crews, the Service's hazardous specialist also attended to help contain the clear chemical liquid.

Fire fighters and nurses also treated eight people who were suffering from mild eye irritations as a result of the gas being released from the chemical.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (WSVN) -- Crews responded to the scene of a HazMat situation at an apartment complex.

Coral Springs Fire Rescue and HazMat crews responded to an apartment building, located at 9630 NW 35th St., after an officer was exposed to an unknown chemical.

Officials said the officer walked into a meter room and found an unknown chemical in an open container. The officer had to be transported to Coral Springs Medical Center.

A bus was on the scene to house and treat residents until authorities cleared the incident. Two other people were treated and released.

An unintentional discharge of pepper spray sent two patients from the Harmon Medical and Rehabilitation Hospital to the emergency room Monday.

Eric Poleski, battalion chief for the Clark County Fire Department, said a call for emergency respiratory care came around 11:30 a.m. at the hospital, 2170 Harmon Ave.

Although initial reports varied about how many were affected, he said 20 people were treated for respiratory irritation. A personal pepper canister appeared to have been accidentally discharged in a nursing area.

"Nothing intentional or malicious," Poleski said.

Five ambulances and Metro's Hazmat unit were on the scene, he said, and crews used gas and electrical fans to ventilate the affected area. Two female patients were transported to Desert Springs Hospital for non-life threatening symptoms, Poleski said. The spill has been cleaned up, and the hospital has resumed operations.

GEORGETOWN, SC (WMBF) – The Georgetown County Fire Department believes two people might have come in contact with hazardous materials at Georgetown's International Paper plant Friday.

Chief Mack Reed with the Georgetown County Fire Department said they received a call from IP about a non-responsive patient around 10:30 a.m.

It is possible two people may have come in contact with a chemical, possibly hydrogen sulfide.

They were both taken to Georgetown Memorial Hospital where they were decontaminated as a precaution.

TWO factory workers had to be taken to hospital following a chemical spill at a site in Holbeach St Marks.

Bakkavor Pizza on Sluice Road had to be evacuated and about 30 firefighters called in just before 9pm on Saturday.

Two staff members were left suffering from breathing difficulties from the incident, which was caused by an overconcentration of a chemical.

They were given oxygen before paramedics arrived on the scene and were later taken to hospital after showering and changing their clothes.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said Bakkavor workers had diluted a cleaning agent down and flushed the area before fire crews arrived.

Bob Mosier, Public Information Officer for Anne Arundel County Schools, said that the chemical odor issue at Northeast High School caused by the remains of an organic solvent has been addressed in full and that students were back in class the same day.

"The kids were back in the classrooms and they were back in their classes that day," said Mosier.

Mosier said he believed that the school responded effectively to the situation.

"They contacted the fire department and they decided to bring the hazmat unit out to be safe," said Mosier. "That required students to stay out of class longer; it's certainly unfortunate that the students had to be out on a very cold day and the evacuation lasted so long."

Two people were injured in a chemical spill at a dairy in Somerset on Thursday night.

Devon and Somerset fire crews were called to the Robert Wiseman plant in North Petherton after reports that a pipe was leaking acid.

Paramedics treated one person for leg injuries and another for facial injuries at the scene.

A spokesman for the dairy said an internal investigation into the incident was under way.

Communications director Graeme Jack said the workers had come into "unintentional contact with a fluid used to clean pipes".

A hazardous materials team was dispatched Friday morning to a home in the Broadlands neighborhood in Broomfield, after an occupant reported feeling ill after being exposed to an unknown substance.

Rescue personnel from North Metro Fire Rescue District at 10:28 a.m. responded to a call from 14352 Mission Way. A woman at the home reported she felt sick after coming in contact with an unidentified liquid found inside of and on the surface of a package delivered to her home earlier this week, said North Metro spokesperson Wendy Forbes.

A man and woman were in the home when fire personnel arrived and were quickly evacuated. The couple was transported to Exempla Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, where they were still receiving treatment shortly before 3 p.m., according to hospital officials.

The couple operate a used clothing business, Boutique 4 Less, out of the home and often have clothing delivered there, Forbes said. The woman became ill after reported opening a package containing a dress that was delivered earlier this week, Forbes said. The woman experienced unspecified symptoms that lead her to call emergency personnel.

The hazmat team recovered the dress and packaging in which it was delivered and is testing a liquid found on both items, Forbes said.

North Metro has already been in contact with FedEx about the package, Forbes said. "They (FedEx) indicated that particular package was one possibly exposed to transmission fluid," Forbes said. "But we will not be able to verify if that was the liquid until the testing is completed."

North Metro's hazmat team ventilated the home and tested for air contamination using gas monitors. The home has been cleared for the residents' return when they are released from the hospital, Forbes said. Two dogs, also initially evacuated from the home when rescuers arrived, have been returned to the back yard, where a neighbor is keeping an eye on them, Forbes said.

Two Bridgewater State University employees were taken to the hospital after they were sickened by an unknown chemical Thursday.

At 11:41 a.m. the Bridgewater fire department was called to Bridgewater State University and began a tier 1 haz-mat response-- the least serious response level.

Two food service employees were working near a dishwasher and food disposal area in a kitchen in the east campus commons, when they became ill.

"They were nauseous, they were dizzy, they were vomiting," said Eva Gaffney, Director of the Office of Institutional Communications at BSU. "They were treated by the town of Bridgewater's ambulance crews and subsequently sent to Brockton Hospital for further treatment and evaluation."

A 14-year-old Edgemont High School student was taken to the hospital for evaluation after a chemical was sprayed in her eye during a biology class.

"We hope that she is fine," said Principal Barry C. Friedman. "The nurse acted properly, did whatever triage was needed…and flushed her eyes out. The school then called the EMTs and the girl's parents, and they decided to take her to the hospital to check her out."

The accident, which occurred at approximately 12:10 p.m., prompted Greenburgh patrol officers, EMTs and a fire truck to arrive at the school. It isunclear which experiment was being performed during the biology class, how the accident occurred or what sort of chemicals were involved.

Eight people have been treated by paramedics and hundreds more have been evacuated after a chemical scare in southern Sydney.

Fire and ambulance crews were called after a strong odour was detected throughout the Qantas catering building near Sydney Airport at 7.37am today.

NSW Fire Brigades Superintendent Ian Krimmer said the odour was believed to be from a floor treatment product.

"At this stage it is believed to be a floor treatment product, the vapours of which have gone through the building as a result of air-conditioning," he told reporters.

"The first of two DuPont Belle Plant employees hospitalized early on Friday morning for observation following a monomethylamine railcar leak at the plant was released from the hospital Friday evening. The second employee remains at the hospital for observation as a precaution and continues to show no signs of respiratory symptoms."

TROY — Officials have determined there was no danger to a neighborhood after 13 Mason jars filled with mercury were discovered at a home in the 2200 block of East Square Lake, east of John R, in Troy.

A couple recently purchased the house and discovered a Mason jar of mercury inside the home filled with 10 pounds of mercury. They reportedly buried the jar in the backyard, but did not open the jar or break the glass, said Troy Police Lt. Bob Redmond.

The couple called police Nov. 29 when they discovered 12 more jars of mercury buried in the crawl space under the home when they tore up floorboards during a renovation project, Redmond said. Those jars were not opened, and the glass was intact, according to police.

Troy police and fire officers from the hazmat team responded and tested the air in the home and determined that it exceeded safe levels and was unsafe for human occupancy. Readings taken outside the home registered “zero” level of mercury, police said.

LOWER EAST SIDE — A high school student and a school nurse were taken to the hospital Thursday after a chemical spill in a school chemistry lab at Lower East Side high school, fire and school officials said.

A 16-year-old Marta Valle High School student got a substance called Benedict's Reagent on her arm, school officials said. 

The chemical is used in experiments with sugars. It can cause an irritation of the skin, school officials said.

The tenth grader and the school nurse were taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center as a precaution, the FDNY said.

A man has been rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a chemical spill and fire this morning at a south Mississauga industrial building.
The man, who was working inside Armstrong Manufacturing, at 2485 Haines Rd., near Cawthra Rd., was taken to Trillium Health Centre at about 11:30 a.m. after suffering second-degree burns to 80 per cent of his body, according to Mississauga fire crews.
Peel Regional Police evacuated the company, which makes cleaning products.   
Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services' Hazardous Materials Unit is on the scene.
The worker was apparently separating mixtures when the spill and subsequent fire occurred, according to reports. The product that caused the damage was insecticidal soap concentrate, according to firefighters.

CLEARLAKE -- A Clearlake man required aerial transport to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital after inhaling a deadly combination of toxins on Wednesday.

According to Lake County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Willie Sapeta, medical response was requested around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday on Konocti View Road. Medics arrived to find the victim suffering of extreme shortness of breath, which they soon determined to be caused by hazardous materials released inside the residence. Sapeta said the situation was caused by a combination of Drano and sulfuric acid.

"People should not combine chemicals," Sapeta said. "Unknown chemicals mixed together can be fatal."

HATFIELD — A woman working at Laboratory Testing Inc. was airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital for treatment of chemical burns she suffered in a workplace accident Monday afternoon.

The accident occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m., according to township Fire Marshal Mikele Waldron.

“She was working with nitric acid and had some type of boil over in the container she was working in, and it splashed her on the head,” said Waldron.

“She did have safety glasses on when it happened, and that probably saved her a lot more pain and agony,” he said, adding that she remained conscious, alert and oriented the entire time.

The accident took place while the woman was working alone in a room at the company’s headquarters, located on Topaz Drive off Sandstone Lane.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- An Orange County hospital was on lockdown Tuesday afternoon because of a hazardous chemical.
Hospital officials said the lockdown was ordered at Dr. Phillips Hospital's emergency department after a patient arrived and said she had been exposed to the chemical.
"That patient is being treated. No patient care within the hospital has been affected," Dr. Phillips Hospital spokeswoman Katie Dagenais said.

D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services were dispatched shortly after 1 p.m. Friday to the corner of New York and Florida avenues Northeast, near Gallaudet University. Several people were complaining of a “foul odor,” said fire department spokesman Alan Etter.

The department’s hazardous materials squad responded but found nothing harmful. They did, however, track down the offending odor: A woman with exceptionally strong body spray.

The “lady sprayed herself with this stuff called Hawaiian Ginger and Tropical Dream body spray, made by Calgon,” Etter said in an e-mail.

EMS evaluated 18 people at the scene, Etter said, but nobody went to the hospital. It was strong, apparently, but not dangerous.

DURHAM, N.C. — Two contractors working at Cree, Inc. in Research Triangle Park were transported to the hospital after coming into contact with hydrochloric acid on Tuesday afternoon, Bethesda Volunteer Fire Company Chief Robert Andrews said.

Crews were called to 3026 E. Cornwallis Road for a pipe burst around 3 p.m., but the issue was upgraded to an acid spill, the department said. 

The contractors immediately washed the acid off in nearby showers, which are located throughout the building as a precaution, Andrews said. They were taken to Duke University Hospital as a precaution. 

The building was evacuated when hazmat crews arrived. Andrews said the pipe that was leaking the acid was immediately shut off. 

OXNARD -- An Oxnard Police officer was hospitalized after coming in contact with a powdery substance during the search of a vehicle during a traffic stop.

The incident began shortly after 8 AM when the officer pulled over a silver 2002 Nissan Altima in the 1200 block of Mercantile Street for having illegally tinted windows.

After the vehicle was stopped, the officer determined that the driver, 27-year-old Gerardo Tapia Aguilar of Oxnard, was driving on a suspended driver's license.

Tapia was taken into custody.

As officers were preparing to impound the vehicle, they conducted an inventory search of the vehicle.

Officials say one of the officers opened a plastic bag that was found in the vehicle and "inadvertently dispersed a powdery substance.

The officer immediately became ill when the powder came in contact with his face.

Another officer immediately drove the officer to the hospital when the street was shut down, the vehicle was isolated, and the Oxnard Fire Department's hazardous material crew was called to the scene.

Because there was only a residual amount of power in the bag, they were unable to positively identify the substance.

A traffic stop at a Garden City apartment apparently resulted in one officer being rushed to the hospital.  Police Chief David Lyons tells us that what started out as stop for drunk driving turned into a drug trafficing arrest and a hazmat investigation.

He says Sgt. Shawn Meyers and some other officers followed a man into his driveway on suspicion of drunk driving, after observing the man driving on the wrong side of the street.  Lyons says after prescripton narcotics were found in the vehicle, the man was placed under arrest for possession and trafficing of narcotics and shortly after, gave consent for police to search the apartment. 

"Our best guess at this time is that meth cooking had been going on inside," Lyons tells us. He says Sgt. Meyers discovered a bag in a kitchen cabinet, which apparently had some kind of chemical residue "from the cook" left inside the bag. Chief Lyons says when Meyers opened up the bag, he "caught a face full of fumes" and was overcome.

TWO people - including a fire fighter - have been taken to hospital following the discovery of a suspected drug lab at a Hillcrest home.

Police, paramedics and the fire brigade were called to the County St home at about 9.30pm following reports a woman had collapsed inside.

She was taken from the house unconscious.

Soon after, a fire fighter who responded to the call was taken to hospital having been exposed to an "unknown chemical".

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kansas City, Kan. fire crews and a hazardous materials team spent hours investigating an apartment alarm at 1742 S. 40th Street Thursday that turned out to be a resident who had attempted to make their own bug spray.
KCK fire spokesman Craig Duke had initially said an "illicit drug lab" was at the center of the high-rise complex, called Douglas Heights Apartments.
The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth floors of the apartment building were evacuated. No injuries have been reported in the incident. Residents have been taken to the Argentine Community Center while the building was being examined.
Fire officials said chemical fumes from an apartment on the seventh floor triggered a fire alarm. Fire officials found chemicals originally believed to be part of a methamphetamine lab inside an apartment, but came to a different conclusion after questioning a woman who was inside the apartment.

Eight people have been hospitalized and several more have complained of pain after a hazmat situation broke out in Thermal Wednesday morning.

Jody Hagemann of the Riverside County Fire Department says the eight were taken to local hospital after breathing in some sort of unidentified fumes in the area of the Oasis Date Gardens, near Grapefruit Blvd. and 60th Avenue. Most of those people were complaining of minor nausea, Hagemann said.

The incident was first reported at 8:25 a.m., and as of 10:35 a.m., the Hazardous Materials Team and Environmental Health officials had still not located the source of the fumes, according to fire officials.  After testing the air quality, everything appeared normal.

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - Fire fighters have a bit of a mystery on their hands, after a curious smell gets people coughing at an Evansville plasma center.

It happened at the Octapharma Plasma center on First Avenue Wednesday afternoon.

People inside the building called dispatch to complain about a smell that was making them cough.

The building was evacuated of the 20 or so people inside.

HAZMAT crews from the Evansville Fire Department came to investigate and found nothing.

The building was given the all clear after about an hour.

A day after evacuating a 200-metre area around a Radisson Drive home for what later turned out not to be a public safety hazard, the fire department said it acted prudently.

Homes and schools were cleared after medical staff believed they had come into contact with organophosphate after treating an elderly man.

Officials were worried the man was exposed to the deadly chemical and others could be at risk, too.

"I think what you do is deal with the information you have at the time," said spokesman Brian McAsey.

"That information told us there might be a great risk to human health and life and we went about doing our protocols. I think we did the right thing."

BELLEVUE, Pa. -- Hazmat teams were in Bellevue Saturday morning after residents complained of a strong gasoline odor.
Fire departments responded to the 300 block of Union Avenue at 12:30 a.m. Saturday after several residents smelled gasoline.
At 2:30 a.m., Hazmat crews were called to the scene to investigate.
Hazmat investigated all morning to try to find the source of the odor that was coming from the sewer system. Crews were gong door-to-door trying to locate the source of the smell.

Cape Mail was evacuated on Friday morning after workers became ill and emergency calls were made to report a possible gass leak, the Cape Town disaster risk management centre said.

“Reports were received of persons that overcome by an alleged smell of gas and resulted in vomiting,” said centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

He said in a statement that city activated the necessary emergency response agencies to the incident in order to establish the source of the smell and to administer medical treatment.

The HazMat teams from the fire and rescue services established the smell was caused by broken ink cartridges and other items that were undelivered and not collected, and returned to Cape Mail, he said.

The fire and rescue, disaster risk management centre, Metro EMS, SAPS, Netcare, ER24, and Discovery Life were present at the scene.

Evacuees are returning to their homes in southeast Calgary after a chemical leak scare on Friday.

Readings at a house in Radisson Heights, where authorities suspected chemicals caused an elderly man to fall ill, have revealed only low levels of chlorine from a neighbour's hot tub.

The house, yard and vehicles were searched, but no chemical leak was found.

Officials now say there's no risk to the public.

At about 7:30 a.m. Friday, a Calgary woman found her husband in distress, officials said.

The man was taken to the Peter Lougheed Centre with respiratory problems, and traces of potentially dangerous chemicals were detected on a doctor's shirt and a paramedic's shoes. Hospital staff called 911. Fire crews and hazardous materials specialists checked the area around the man's home in the 1400 block of Radisson Drive, near Robson Crescent S.E.

EMMAUS, Pa. -- Several people have been displaced after insect foggers caused a HazMat situation at an apartment complex for senior citizens in Lehigh County.
Crews were called to the East Penn Place One apartment building in the 600 block of Broad Street in Emmaus around 8:30 Wednesday night.
Officials say the fumes from the insect foggers forced residents on the second floor to evacuate.
Some of the residents had to find another place to stay for the night and a few others were taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons but everyone is expected to be ok.

Seven homes on Canyon Rim Drive, off American River Canyon Drive, were evacuated for a little over an hour Sunday night after residents complained of a strong chemical odor.
Regional fire dispatch got a call at 7:34 p.m. from a resident of the 100 block of Canyon Rim Drive complaining of a strong odor.
The Folsom Fire Department responded and their sensors detected a hazardous substance, according to officials. When three firefighters reported feeling lightheaded, fire officials called out three ambulances, a truck company and three fire engines.
"This was an unusual response primarily because of the way our crews were impacted," said Dennis Wycoff, a battalion chief with the Folsom Fire Department.

PARMA, Idaho – A Parma movie theater was put on lockdown Saturday night after several people began complaining of a burning sensation in their eyes.
It happened around 7:45 p.m. at the Motor Vu drive-in theater. The theater offered a Trunk-or-Treat event and then played a monster movie.
An EMS crew was on scene as part of the festivities and some people walked over to the ambulance, saying they felt a burning sensation in their eyes.
Many more people followed with a similar complaint and even the EMS crew was affected.
According to Parma Fire District Fire Chief James Cook, several fire and EMS crews were called onto the scene and the theater was locked down.
"Our idea was to keep control of the situation," Cook said.

Cook said it became apparent once they were on scene what the irritant was and called the lockdown so as not to create a panic.

That irritant was chloropicrin fumigant, which was used Friday in a field south of the drive-in. The fumigant is designed to kill bugs in the soil and is trenched into the soil about 6 to 10 inches. Occasionally, pockets of the fumigant get released into the air, which is what caused the reaction in the people at the theater.

Hazardous materials crews were unable to find the source of a strong chemical smell that forced the evacuation of a 114-unit apartment building Friday afternoon, and residents were allowed to return to their homes, a fire official said.
After air tests failed to turn up anything out of the ordinary, as many as 90 people who had been evacuated from the Westlake Village apartment building at 20 Poncetta Drive in Daly City were given the OK to return by about 4 p.m., said Matt Lucett, spokesman for the North County Fire Authority.
Apart from two residents who complained of throat irritation, no one was injured. Those two residents were examined at the scene and were not taken to the hospital.
Crews went to the building around 11:15 a.m. to investigate reports of a chemical odor, Lucett said. When they arrived, they found a man who complained of throat irritation.
Firefighters went into the building to investigate but turned back after getting a "caustic taste in the back of their throats," Lucett said.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Scientists who work at the Environmental Protection Agency’s sprawling campus in Research Triangle Park are at the forefront of research into air quality, but some have become the test subjects in an air-quality mystery that has left them so sick that they work outside the building whenever possible.

WRAL Investigates started asking questions weeks ago about work-related illnesses at the campus after workers said they felt the agency wasn't acting aggressively enough to solve the problem. On Thursday, more than seven years after the complaints first started, the EPA sent out a memo to its employees, promising change. 

Thursday's memo also mentions "visible mold growth." Yet, facilities manager Alex Montilla downplayed the mold concerns in an interview with WRAL Investigates last Friday.

Many EPA employees, who did not want to be identified for fear of losing their jobs, said they face a stigma because not everyone inside the building is affected. Some co-workers doubt the illnesses are real, they said.

Opened in November 2002, the EPA campus was touted as a state-of-the-art facility. The agency even dedicated a section of its website to discuss the extreme measures taken to protect the air quality at the facility. Inside those buildings, however, particularly inside the B wing, there's trouble in the air.

A council worker in the mid-north has been taken to Port Augusta Hospital after being overcome by fumes at a farm near Wilmington.

Police say a farmer saw a man in a white utility emptying a drum on the side of a track near his farm on Wednesday.

The council worker went to investigate on Thursday but was overcome by what police said were toxic fumes and needed treatment by paramedics.

Fire crews with breathing masks were called in to remove a chemical from the area.

Prescott and Central Yavapai firefighters and their hazardous materials teams answered a 911 call Saturday from Bucky's Casino in Prescott after people became nauseous from a strange odor in the building, said Eric Kriwer, spokesman for the Prescott Fire Department.

No one at the scene needed treatment, Kriwer said.

People were evacuated from the casino and the firefighters and hazmat teams monitored the air on three floors to see what caused the odors, but they found no gas leaks or any other indication of what may have cause the odor, Kriwer said.

TOLEDO, OHIO -- Federal officials from FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia have been called to Toledo after police officers found highly-toxic chemicals inside a West Toledo home Tuesday.

A HazMat situation shut down a portion of the Safety Building in downtown Toledo and sent several Toledo Police officers to the hospital after finding the chemicals, along with illegal controlled substances, inside the home of Thomas Wineinger.

Police say they responded to a call of domestic violence at the suspect's home, at 4716 Douglas Rd., Tuesday evening.  After transporting evidence from the scene to the Safety Building, two officers became exposed to an unknown chemical.  Nine officers were taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center as a precaution, according to a spokesperson from the fire department, and are doing fine.

Fire Crews from Kilmarnock and Maybole tackledf a chemical spillage within an Intensive Care Ward within Ayr Hospital, Dalmellington Road at around 6.45pm on tuesday night
Upon arrival Firefighters assisted hospital staff in the immediate evacuation of patients to a safe area, and requested the attendance of Strathclyde Fire & Rescues Technical Support Unit.
Firefighters wearing Chemical Protection Suits and Breathing Apparatus identified and sealed a leak of Ammonia which was released from a refridgeration unit within a compartment close to the ward. The refridgeration unit was removed from the premises and the ward was fully ventilated.
A total of eight hospital staff were taken to the Accident & Emergency Department at the hospital, upon compaining of minor breathing difficulties and headaches.

Dearborn - One person was overcome with fumes this morning at Fordson High School after pool chemicals were improperly mixed, officials said. The resulting noxious fumes caused the evacuation of the school and the eventual dismissal of classes for the day.
According to Fire Chief Rich Miller, a preliminary investigation shows that pool chemicals were somehow improperly mixed or applied, which caused noxious fumes to infiltrate the school.
Miller said the school employee who accidentally applied the chemical was overcome by the vapors and was sent to a walk-in facility for treatment.
It is believed the chemicals involved were chlorine and muriatic acid, both of which are used to treat pool water. The city of Dearborn also asked for the Wayne County Hazardous Materials Team to respond to the incident.

GERMANTOWN, TN (WMC-TV) - Germantown police issued a formal warning Monday after a bag of candy left on a resident's porch produced a potentially hazardous chemical reaction.

Investigators said the resident, who has not been named, found a gift bag on his or her front porch Sunday. Inside the bag were two packages of candy and a jar that appeared to contain expensive chocolates.

When the jar was opened, an apparent chemical reaction caused a foul odor.

The Germantown Fire Department's Hazmat team was called to the scene.  The results of tests conducted on the bag and it's contents have not been released, but were alarming enough for police to issue their warning.

"I'm pleased that they would take time to make sure the community's safe," Germantown resident Julie Duncan said.

Investigators also consulted nearby agencies for information and advice about the substance.

At the very least, police say, this is a case of serious vandalism, and it is fortunate that no one was seriously injured.

Call Germantown police at 901-757-7339 if you receive a suspicious package.

PATERSON — An employee at a dye plant was overcome by fumes that forced the evacuation of two dozen employees at the plant on First Avenue on Monday, a fire official said.

City firefighters and a Passaic County Hazmat Unit were called to the Cardinal Color, Inc. plant at 50 First Ave., shortly after 11 a.m. after the fumes forced workers to evacuate, Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Hirz said.

The employee had used mineral spirits to clean up a spill, and fumes spread through the building, Hirz said.

The worker was “decontaminated” at the scene and treated at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, Hirz said. His condition was not immediately available.

Employees were allowed back into the building after county health officials tested the air quality and deemed it safe, Hirz said.

HONOLULU -- Emergency crews responded to a state prison Monday after a staff member complained of a noxious odor.
City ambulances arrived at Oahu Community Correctional Center at noon.
A spokesperson for OCCC said maintenance crews used a chemical to clean a clogged storm drain.
A staff member complained of the smell.
The Honolulu Fire Department's hazmat team responded to inspect the situation.
The prison was evacuated while crews determined it was OK to return.
An EMS spokesperson said a man was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Rock Island Arsenal’s fire department, along with several area fire departments, responded to the Joint Manufacturing Technology Center on Arsenal Island on Monday after two employees opening a container were exposed to a small vapor cloud.
The employees who opened the container reported feeling nauseous about 12:30 p.m., prompting the response from fire departments that included Moline, Rock Island, East Moline and Bettendorf. Fifteen employees were evacuated from the building that houses the technology center’s heat treating operation.
The two affected employees were not hospitalized, and the building’s employees returned to work about 2:30 p.m.
The employees were working with a container that was to be melted down, according to an Rock Island Arsenal spokesman. The contents of the container are under investigation.
The HazMat team that responded determined there were no hazardous materials present and there was no risk to employees at the site. 

Six people, including three firefighters, got sick today after being exposed to a fumigating agent in the Hampshire Hills neighborhood in Charlotte.

Emergency crews and more than 20 firefighters responded to an incident involving hazardous materials just before 3 p.m. on Cove Creek Drive, off The Plaza near Eastway Drive.

The ill firefighters were taken to Presbyterian Hospital for evaluation. Two paramedics and another person also became ill and went to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Charlotte Fire Department spokesman Capt. Mark Basnight could not be reached for more details or explanation about what chemicals appear to have been involved.

Two students created a scare at a middle school in Brooklyn by pouring a potentially dangerous chemical into the hands of unsuspecting classmates -- leading to a hazmat response that included cops and firefighters, officials disclosed yesterday.

Six students from Seth Low IS 96 in Bensonhurst were taken to Coney Island Hospital as a precaution.

Several others were taken to emergency rooms by their parents after Thursday's incident.

Officials said no one was seriously injured. In a letter sent to parents yesterday, principal Denise Sandra Levinsky reported that two students took a bottle of potassium bichromate from a science class and sprinkled some of the powder into the hands of other kids -- "at least two of whom then licked their hands."

NOT SMART: Brooklyn's Seth Low school drew hazmat teams after kids played with an unsafe powder.
The crystalline chemical is bright reddish orange in color and is used as an oxidizing agent and in pyrotechnics, explosives and matches.

A feared chemical spill in Orewa has turned out to be nothing more harmful than weed spray used by the council.

Orewa's central business district was locked down and people evacuated while fire crews investigated.

Fire Service spokesman Scott Osmond said many were concerned about the unusual smell but it had been confirmed as non-hazardous and people allowed back in the area.

LOS ANGELES—One person has been hospitalized after a possible chemical leak at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hollywood.
Fire officials say the purported leak was reported shortly before 6 p.m. Friday. A strange odor made several people feel sick while workers were sanitizing equipment.
The condition of the hospitalized person wasn't known.
Firefighters don't know the source of the strange odor nor the type of chemical.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Hazmat crews did not find any hazardous material near the Mission Basilica Friday morning, where more than a dozen kids suddenly felt sick at the same time.
Sixteen people, including 13 kids and three adults, suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy while inside the Mission Basilica in San Juan Capistrano at 31641 Camino Capistrano, said Capt. Greg McKeown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

Authorities are trying to determine what caused 11 people, mostly children, to suddenly feel sick Friday morning inside the Mission Basilica. After searching the church for more than 2 hours, Hazardous Material units from the Orange County Fire Authority found nothing.

A total of 16 people were treated outside of the church, but people told paramedics that they felt their symptoms were beginning to dissipate, McKeown said. No one was taken to a local hospital.

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Employees were evacuated after they smelled a strange odor in a South Florida clinic.

A Memorial Health Care System building near Stirling Road and South Federal Highway was evacuated after workers reported a gas smell, Friday.

HazMat crews discovered the smell came from newly-installed air fresheners.

One person was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

EDINA, Minn. - Edina High School and Valley View Middle School were evacuated and closed Friday morning after a small chemical leak in a storage room at the high school.

Edina police and firefighters were called to the school at 6754 Valley View Road to assess the scene after a custodian came across the leak around 8 a.m. The custodian was treated for his exposure at the scene as a hazmat crew went to work cleaning up the chemicals.

Superintendent Ric Dressen said the schools would remain closed for the day.

The leak originated from a chemical neutralization tank used to hold and neutralize discarded chemicals from the school’s science labs. The tank had backed up and began leaking onto the high school floor. Test results showed that the chemical mixture had already been neutralized, and did not pose an immediate health threat.

The spill was cleaned up by noon, but the incident throws a small curveball in this weekend's homecoming plans at Edina High School. Friday night’s football game will go on as scheduled, but Saturday’s dance will be moved to a community center.

Orewa's central business district has re-opened after being locked down amid fears there may have been a chemical spill.

The Hibiscus Coast town was evacuated as fire crews investigated.

Fire Service Spokesman, Scott Osmond, says they were concerned about the unusual smell that pervaded the centre of Orewa for several hours.

"It has been identified as a smell caused by weed spray used by the council," he told Newstalk ZB, "there's no hazard to anyone's health and the area's now safe for public access and re-opened."

Osmond said it was just the smell that was unpleasant and that there had been no complaints from people irritated by the spray.

An MSU student had a negative reaction to chemicals he had been working with Monday evening while in the Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

The student, a 23-year-old male, called the complainant, a 45-year-old female MSU employee, after reacting to the chemicals, McGlothian-Taylor said.

The Office of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Safety, East Lansing Fire Department and the East Lansing Police Department all responded to the call.

The exposure was at a non-lethal level, and the student was taken to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital.

WEST HARRISON — Two town sanitation workers were overcome by acidic fumes from a garbage truck and rushed to the hospital Tuesday morning.

A routine residential garbage run down Locust Avenue turned dangerous around 8:45 a.m.

While a Harrison sanitation crew was collecting trash, their garbage truck began spewing smoke.

A Westchester County Hazardous Materials Response Team determined that the smoke was caused by acid thrown out with trash, said Caren Halbfinger, spokeswoman for the county Health Department.

Police are investigating what acid it was and what house it came from.

Fire Department Hazardous Material Response Team, responded to the Department of Fish and Game, located at 1740 North Market Blvd for several employees complaining of eye irritation and breathing difficulty after coming on contact with a package delivered by Federal Express.

After coming in contact and being in close proximity with a legal, letter sized package, over six employees of the Department of Fish and game began complaining of burning eyes and difficulty breathing.  Two employees were transported by Sacramento Fire Paramedics to local hospitals for their symptoms.

The department of Fish and Game called it an early day and let all the employees that were evacuated go home for the day, rather than return to work. Firefighters ventilated the building to ensure the fumes were no longer present before leaving the scene.

The substance later was identified as formaldehyde and traced back to the distribution center, where the contents of separate package leaked on to other packages.  It is presumed that the second hazmat incident located at, 3028 Peace Keeper Way was a result of the formaldehyde as well.  The package delivered to this location was delivered by a different truck; however it was sorted at the same distribution center.  Both law enforcement and fire officials have concluded these incidents were accidental.

A Hazmat team is cleaning up a chemical spill in South Reno after a Waste Management employee was burned this morning while collecting trash.

At around 8:09 a.m., the employee emptied several trash cans into a garbage truck in the 10000 block of Crystal Bay Drive and began to compact it when he heard a pop, followed by a chemical spray that burned his skin, City of Reno spokesperson Michele Anderson said. The employee was transported to an area hospital to be treated. The severity of his injuries was unknown, but Anderson said he is 'doing okay.'

The Washoe County Health Department is also at the scene, and will continue the investigation to determine what kind of chemical it was and where it came from, Anderson said. Investigators have narrowed the chemical's source to about 4 homes on the street, she said.

Investigators determined only that the chemical was an acidic liquid, and they were using a stabilizing agent to neutralize it. Hazmat crews were also working on moving the garbage truck from the scene, Anderson said.

Detectives were today examining computer records amid fears that two women killed themselves in a chemical suicide pact after meeting over the internet.

The bodies of the pair, both in their twenties, were discovered in a flat filled with toxic fumes in Putney yesterday afternoon.

Fire crews in biohazard suits and breathing apparatus had to force their way into the property in Lower Richmond Road. Windows, doors and air vents had been sealed up to prevent the lethal gas escaping.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- An Orlando man apparently committed suicide in his car at an Interstate 95 rest area by inhaling fumes from a mixture of toxic chemicals he had concocted, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.
A security guard at the Fort Pierce rest area called 911 about 6:45 a.m. Friday after finding a sign on the windshield that read, "Do not approach. Hydrogen sulfide."
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Sheriff's deputies, the Florida Highway Patrol and members of the St. Lucie County Fire District's hazardous materials team were called to the rest area.
The first responding trooper came in contact with the fumes and had to be transported to the hospital.
"Before she could actually walk away from the vehicle, she became sick and had to be assisted away from the vehicle," St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said.