Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 09:10:45 -0400
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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

Subject: Chemical Safety Headlines From Google (9 articles)

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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