JUNE 5, 2015
RIDGEFIELD, CT
A toxic gas released by combining the wrong
household chemicals caused a house on Lewis Drive to be evacuated and a hazmat
team to be called in Friday.
The fire department responded to 42 Lewis Drive after a
report around 4:30 p.m. of a strong odor of chlorine.
“Evidently as part of the homeowner’s water treatment system
there’s a tank that uses liquid chlorine,” Fire Chief Kevin Tappe, who was the
incident commander, said. ” … Similar to like you’d use in a pool.”
There were three jugs that a worker at the house thought
were all filled with the chlorine, but one was filled with muriatic acid. He
poured the contents of the jugs into the system, located in the basement.
When the two chemicals combine, “it gives off chlorine gas,”
Tappe said. “… It was dangerous in the beginning.”
The gas hit the handyman right away and it started to cause
a burning sensation in his lungs, but Tappe said the man was fine. The
homeowner opened doors and windows and called the department.
“We evacuated the area,” Tappe said. Firefighters talked to
the state DEEP and Chem Trec, a hotline for chemical emergencies, and
determined a hazardous material team needed to be called in.
By the time the hazmat team arrived from Danbury, at around
8 p.m., the reaction had ceased. They tested with Ph paper. “You probably know
it as litmus paper,” Tappe said.
“One thing I know from experience, hazardous material
incidents are never over quickly,” Tappe said at around 10:30 p.m., some six
hours after the initial call.
Source: http://www.theridgefieldpress.com