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Anchorage firefighters donned hazardous-materials gear Friday outside the Holiday Inn Express hotel at 4411 Spenard Rd., which was temporarily evacuated Friday after a small chlorine gas leak. AFD says 44 people were evacuated, and seven people were treated for exposure to the gas. (Albert Lutan/KTUU-TV / December 7, 2012) |
The Anchorage Fire Department responded Friday to a small chlorine gas leak which prompted the temporary evacuation of a Spenard hotel.
According to AFD dispatchers, 13 units were sent to the Holiday Inn Express at 4411 Spenard Rd., in response to an initial call at about 11:45 a.m.
AFD Capt. James Dennis says the incident began when a worker in a back room, near the hotel’s pool area, dropped periodic acid into chlorinate residue in a container.
Although the leak was limited to a small area, firefighters evacuated 44 people from the building, putting some on a parked People Mover bus and others in a nearby Wendy’s fast-food restaurant due to the cold. Seven people were treated for exposure to the gas.
Despite the size of the leak, AFD says it’s crucial to contain all such incidents quickly.
“When you have a chlorinate gas leak, it can be fatal in any concentration,” Dennis said. “It is a very important thing we take very serious -- when it comes into contact with humans it turns into hydrochlorinate acid, which can cause death.”
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