Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google Wednesday, August 3, 2011 8:52:26 AM A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas Table of Contents (9 articles) HOUSE CATCHES FIRE AFTER GRILL IGNITES PROPANE TANKS Tags: us_NC, public, explosion, response, propane ALERT OVER CHEMICAL SPILL AT EDINBURGH WESTERN GENERAL Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, injury, formaldehyde SACTO 9-1-1: FIREFIGHTERS SUFFER MINOR INJURIES IN RANCHO CORDOVA HAZMAT FIRE Tags: industrial, fire, injury, pool_chemicals, waste, us_ca STAR LOCAL NEWS > THE COLONY COURIER-LEADER > NEWS > CHEMICAL LEAK SENDS WORKER TO HOSPITAL Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, injury, chlorine THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: PLAYING KIDS SET OFF GAS GRENADE, INJURING A DOZEN Tags: us_KY, public, explosion, injury, tear_gas SEMI LEAKING ACID CLOSES EXIT, FORCES EVACUATION Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, sulfuric_acid UPDATE: CHEMICAL CONFIRMED TO BE SODIUM CYANIDE IN APARTMENT Tags: us_CO, public, release, death, sodium_cyanide 1,000 WORKERS EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICAL LEAK Tags: Indonesia, industrial, release, response, insecticides MORE ON SPECIALTY TIRE PLANT FIRE Tags: us_IN, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical, follow-up --------------------------------------------- HOUSE CATCHES FIRE AFTER GRILL IGNITES PROPANE TANKS http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8285803 Tags: us_NC, public, explosion, response, propane RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A Raleigh homeowner safely escaped his home after his grill went up in flames. Fifty firefighters were dispatched to a home on Wagram Court in north Raleigh just after 8 p.m. Stanley Gantman says he had just finished grilling when his grill caught fire. "When I started it up again," he explained. "It just [went] poof." He went inside to grab a fire extinguisher and call 911. While inside, he heard two loud pops -- his propane tanks exploding. The 911 dispatcher instructed the homeowner to exit the home immediately. A neighbor rushed over to help, but the deck was engulfed. "It was amazing," neighbor Bob Travis said. "It shot up immediately you could see the blue flames." --------------------------------------------- ALERT OVER CHEMICAL SPILL AT EDINBURGH WESTERN GENERAL http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14379673 Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, injury, formaldehyde Staff had to be evacuated from a department at an Edinburgh hospital following a chemical spill. A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said a man and a woman had been exposed to formaldehyde following an accident at the Western General Hospital. The incident happened at 14:50 in the hospital's pathology department. More than 30 firefighters were at the scene dealing with the chemical spillage. Lothian and Borders Police said: "There is no concern for the public because it has been contained in the lab." Jackie Sansbury, chief operating officer for NHS Lothian, said: "There was a minor chemical leak in the Pathology Unit of the Western General Hospital today. --------------------------------------------- SACTO 9-1-1: FIREFIGHTERS SUFFER MINOR INJURIES IN RANCHO CORDOVA HAZMAT FIRE http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2011/08/firefighters-su.html Tags: industrial, fire, injury, pool_chemicals, waste, us_ca Two firefighters suffered minor injuries this morning during a hazardous materials incident involving pool chemicals at a waste facility in Rancho Cordova. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters responded at 11:15 a.m. to a report of a fire involving hazardous materials in the 11000 block of White Road Road. They arrived to find smoke and fumes coming from a hazardous waste storage area on the site, according to a district news release. Workers told firefighters that they were repacking dry pool chemicals in a 55-gallon drum and it appeared a chemical reaction occurred, causing a small fire and what they thought was off gassing of the material. Workers said they used a dry chemical fire extinguisher on the fire and thought they had slowed the chemical reaction. They left the area unharmed. Firefighters were able to separate the material, which helped stop the spread and continued chemical reaction, officials said. The district's hazmat team arrived and entered the facility where they further reduced the remaining hazards. The two injured firefighters were taken to a hospital for evaluation, and both were released for return to full duty. --------------------------------------------- STAR LOCAL NEWS > THE COLONY COURIER-LEADER > NEWS > CHEMICAL LEAK SENDS WORKER TO HOSPITAL http://www.colonyleader.com/articles/2011/08/03/the_colony_courier-leader/ news/9861.txt Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, injury, chlorine An electrical malfunction resulted in a chlorine leak Tuesday night at The Colony's well-water treatment facility on Main and Chowning streets. A city employee responding to the chlorine alarm was later taken to the hospital for exposure to the chemicals. At about 8:45 p.m., units from The Colony Fire Department arrived at the facility and found noticeable traces of chlorine still in the air. As a precaution, Frisco Fire Department's hazardous materials unit was called out to take some readings. At that point, The Colony Fire Chief Scott Thompson said they were not 100-percent sure the leak had been fully contained. Frisco's hazmat units arrived, investigated the structure, and determined that the leak had been stopped. The Colony's Executive Director of Operations Tod Maurina said the leak originated from a 150-pound chlorine cylinder and was the result of an electrical malfunction. --------------------------------------------- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: PLAYING KIDS SET OFF GAS GRENADE, INJURING A DOZEN http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_MIPxtQxVdpvczr80vxQF1L Ftqg?docId=74f8f2f17f2b4db6bc078f002f4e39a5 Tags: us_KY, public, explosion, injury, tear_gas LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) =97 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. --------------------------------------------- SEMI LEAKING ACID CLOSES EXIT, FORCES EVACUATION http://www.theindychannel.com/news/28732040/detail.html Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, sulfuric_acid INDIANAPOLIS -- A Hancock County restaurant and hotel were evacuated Monday after a tractor-trailer spilled sulfuric acid nearby, police said. State police stopped the truck just after 4:30 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 at the exit to State Road 9. Hazmat crews were called to the scene after it was determined that the truck=92s trailer was leaking a small amount of sulfuric acid. --------------------------------------------- UPDATE: CHEMICAL CONFIRMED TO BE SODIUM CYANIDE IN APARTMENT http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/Body_Found_At_Fillmore_And_Chestnut_126 551603.html?ref=603 Tags: us_CO, public, release, death, sodium_cyanide A dead man and dangerous chemicals found in a Colorado Springs apartment. Authorities says the chemical is sodium cyanide. Normally used in gold mining, it is highly toxic and sometimes deadly. During this investigation, half a dozen patients were taken to the hospital as a safety precaution. A Colorado Springs Fire paramedic, two AMR medics, a Springs police officer, and two workers from the complex had to be checked out. "It's a little unnerving," one neighbor said. Paramedics answered a call to the Fillmore Ridge Apartments and immediately found a man's lifeless body. Once police entered the apartment, they found the chemicals and quickly called the hazmat units. Several people who were exposed to the chemicals were decontaminated on scene. --------------------------------------------- 1,000 WORKERS EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICAL LEAK http://www.mysinchew.com/node/61547 Tags: Indonesia, industrial, release, response, insecticides UALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- About 1,000 workers of a chemical company at the Malaysian Technology Park in Bukit Jalil were ordered to evacuate the building, after chemicals used for insect control, leaked. Bukit Jalil Fire and Rescue Department chief Jalil Shaari Abdullah said 26 firemen from Bukit Jalil, Hang Tuah Fire and Rescue Department and a Hazardous Materials Expert team from the Jelatek Fire and Rescue Department arrived at the scene at 9.58am. He added that Bromomethane and Chloropicrin chemicals were found on the ground and first floor of the eight storey building. "The chemicals are toxic and could damage the respiratory tract if exposed for a long time," he said after carrying out a cleaning process, here today. He said except for those working on the ground and first floor where cleaning work was still in progress, the rest of the workers were allowed to return at 1pm. --------------------------------------------- MORE ON SPECIALTY TIRE PLANT FIRE http://www.tirereview.com/Article/90136/more_on_specialty_tire_plant_fire. aspx Tags: us_IN, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical, follow-up ire officials now say that a "chemical product" used in tire manufacturing "self-heated," triggering the explosion and fire that rocked Specialty Tires of America's plant in Indiana, Pa., last week. The material was apparently stored in a large refrigerated room where raw rubber was also stored. The plant=92s cement block walls and the two steel access doors to the room helped keep the fire from spreading, officials said. The unnamed chemical =93must be stored under =91optimal=92 conditions, otherwise it will heat up by itself,=94 according to police. Because the plant was on summer maintenance shutdown, only a small crew of about 30 people was working at the time. The plant employs 400. Three of those workers, though, were hurt when they attempted to put out the fire before local fire departments responded. Using the plant=92s own fire equipment, the three fought the flames until they were disabled by smoke. They were treated and released from the Indiana Regional Medical Center. ---------------------------------------------
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