Firefighters prepare to enter a Boeing building in which a Hazmat alarm sounded Thursday morning.
— image credit: Brian Beckley, Renton Reporter
by BRIAN BECKLEY, Renton Reporter Editor
Today at 11:16AM
RENTON, WA
A hazmat alarm inside a Boeing building in south Renton's industrial area has led to the evacuation of a building and the closure of part of Lind Avenue Southwest.
According to Todd Kelley, communications specialist for Boeing security and fire, an internal hazmat alarm sounded Thursday morning at a "laboratory facility." A total of 41 employees were evacuated, though none required medical attention or were transported to a hospital.
Kelley called the evacuation "precautionary" and a "Standard response for these kind of incidents."
The Renton Fire Department, as well as many other departments from around King County were on the scene and a team entered the building just after 11 a.m.
Kelley said the plan would be for firefighters to secure the building in concentric circles, working their way toward the source of the leak.
According to Renton Depoty Chief Erik Wallgren, the spill was a xylene/nitrogen mixture and was contained inside the building with no danger to the surrounding area.
Kelley said the length of the response was unknown at this time and that roads would remain closed in the area until the incident was cleared.