JAMESTOWN, Pa. -- A fire at a munitions plant in northwestern Mercer County was extinguished in about an hour on Monday afternoon.

No one was injured in the blaze, at Combined Systems Inc., which makes tear gas and grenades.

Firefighters from more than seven companies, including those in Crawford County, responded, WYTV-TV of Youngstown, Ohio, reported. It said the plant evacuated all 200 of its employees for the day.

Officials were investigating the cause of the fire, the second at Combined Systems since November. A spark from a machine caused that blaze, which was in a different building than Monday's fire, officials said.

No one was injured in the November fire, which at the time was the third to occur at Combined Systems.

SAN DIEGO -- Four people were treated Friday morning after being exposed to remnants of a tear gas-like substance at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and a hazardous materials team responded to what was initially ruled a "hazardous spill" of an unknown substance at the base. The report was received shortly before 10 a.m.
However, base officials said there was no hazardous spill, and added two Marines and two civilians standing near the base's east gate were inadvertently exposed by other Marines that had gone through CS gas training earlier in the day.
Authorities determined the area to be free of any chemicals and the gate was reopened following clean up.

JAMESTOWN, Pa. -- A spark from a machine in a building where tear gas and grenades are produced set off a fire at a munitions plant Tuesday morning, Jamestown fire officials said.

The building, known as a "gas house," has a sprinkler system in place, but the system did not put out the fire at Combined Systems Inc., 388 Kinsman Road, officials said.

Firefighters from seven departments in Mercer County, as well as departments from Crawford County and Trumbull County, Ohio, were sent to the facility shortly before 7:30 a.m.

Seven employees in the building and about 163 others working elsewhere in the complex were evacuated without injury.

"Our emergency procedures worked flawlessly, and everyone was accounted for quickly," said Don Smith, chief executive of Combine Systems Inc. "I'm very grateful to emergency services for responding quickly."

The fire was fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene. It took them about an hour to put the fire out.

"We couldn't get the fire out quickly because we couldn't get to it," said Tom Luckock, the deputy fire chief for the Jamestown Fire Department.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A tear gas grenade its owner thought was a toy exploded while a group of children played with it in a southeastern Kentucky home, sending about a dozen people to hospitals, authorities said Tuesday.
Injuries included burning eyes, cuts and chemical irritation to the skin, said David McGill, emergency management coordinator in Harlan County. The gas grenade went off Monday evening in a home in the town of Lynch.
"They're very lucky that someone didn't get hurt worse than they did," McGill said by phone.
Most of the injured were taken to a nearby hospital in Harlan. One child was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Kingsport, Tenn., and was later reported in stable condition.
The grenade belonged to a man who found the device while cleaning out the home of a friend who had died, McGill said. The friend's widow told him he could keep anything that interested him.

IRWIN, Pa. -- Thieves who broke into a church building and stole thousands of dollars were likely sprayed with tear gas, leading to a hazmat situation, police said.
Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele reported that Irwin police said more than $7,000 was stolen from Immaculate Conception Church's administration building.
Police told Miele the thieves got in through a basement door and rode the elevator to the business office to get to the safe, then brought the safe down to the basement in the elevator.
Police said the burglars knocked over a refrigerator when they were in the process of moving it so they could reach the safe.
Investigators originally believed the fridge was leaking Freon, because of a burning chemical smell, and they called in hazmat crews to deal with what they thought was a dangerous chemical.
It turned out that the smell was really tear gas that was part of a "booby trap" on the older-model safe.
"After doing some research on this particular safe, these safes were equipped with a fail-safe. If someone breached them, tear gas would be released," Police Chief Joe Pocsatko said.
"If it hit their skin, it probably burned them,"
Miele reported that officers found 11 water bottles scattered around the damaged safe and believe the suspects used them to rinse their eyes and throats after being sprayed with the gas.
"I was in there myself -- eyes started burning. We couldn't go back in until the fire department ventilated the building," Pocsatko said.
Police believe three or four people must have been involved in the theft, as the safe is extremely heavy. No arrests have been made.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Winston-Salem fire officials said Sunday a leaking can of tear gas forced an evacuation at a neighborhood.
It happened on Pacific Street, near Pineview Drive and Rural Hall Road at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Officials said someone found a suspicious package at a home that caused skin irritation.
As a precaution, fire officials asked residents near the home to evacuate during the investigation.