Ammonia spill in Fort Erie. Mike DiBattista photo
Emergency personnel responded to the leak at the Hagey Ave., Fort Erie plant at 12:11 p.m., The leak also sent two people to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, said Niagara Regional Police.
The man who died was pronounced dead at the scene after being exposed to the gas, said police, however they couldn’t confirm whether he was an employee of the food company.
“We’re still confirming who this person is, so any information about the deceased will be released at a later time,” social media officer David Mander told reporters around 3 p.m.
Rich Products could not be reached for comment Monday.
The fire department contained the leak. Mander said the smell from the leaked gas escaped beyond the company’s property.
“There was some (members of the) public that did notice the smell, but since then it has been contained by the fire department,” he said.
Bertie St., between Concession Rd., and Douglas St., was blocked off to allow for the investigation.
“At this time, there’s no public safety risk and we’re just closing the road for investigation purposes.”
For a period of time Monday, there was no access to Douglas Memorial Hospital, which is located near the Rich Products plant. The public was asked to use Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara Falls or call 911 for medical emergencies.
Several people who had appointments, or who wanted to see family members at the hospital, were told the area was temporarily blocked off Monday afternoon.
At around 3 p.m., Mander said police were in the process of reducing the size of the scene.
“We are letting people in, if they have appointments at the hospital — people can still attend their appointments. We are just in the process of shrinking the scene, so it won’t interfere with the public’s access to this area.”
The Fort Erie Fire Department originally tweeted that Rich Products was evacuated and police were evacuating homes in the area as a precaution.
Mander said he was not sure if Rich’s was evacuated, but that a perimeter was set up and the public was warned to stay out of the area for public safety.
“That has since been removed because of the containment of the leak,” he said, adding he’s not aware of homes being evacuated, but people were advised to stay indoors.
Mander said the Ministry of Labour was called to the scene.
He could not say when the entire area would be cleared.
Fort Erie Coun. Stephen Passero, who represents the ward where the leak occurred, was on scene talking to emergency personnel Monday afternoon.
Salvation Army personnel were also on scene handing out bottles of water to first responders.
“It’s an unfortunate day, but I’m thankful to the residents for their patience and our first responders for their diligence and everything they do to contain incidents such as this,” said Passero.
“I field a lot of Facebook messages, e-mails, phone calls, people wanting timely information and the only way to have that timely information is to be on site and speak to those who are in charge.”