Leak sparks fears of toxic gas cloud
HORFIELD Leisure Centre was evacuated and roads were closed after a chlorine gas scare.
Dozens of customers and employees were ordered to leave the centre off Gloucester Road at just after 2pm yesterday after a chemical used to purify the swimming pool leaked.
-
Crews in protective clothing enter Horfield Leisure Centre
Firefighters, police and ambulance service staff were called to the scene and Dorian Road and Bishopthorpe Road were closed as a precautionary measure.
It was feared the leaked chemical, sodium hypochlorite, may have mixed with another chemical stored at the leisure centre to create a potentially hazardous chlorine gas cloud.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
Firefighters dressed in protective suits entered the building at just after 5pm and discovered that the two substances, which were stored in different rooms, had not combined.
The centre was closed for the rest of the day as the 50ml of spilt chemical was cleared from the plant room in the leisure centre. The centre was due to reopen this morning.
Incident manager Jon Brown, station manager at Weston-super-Mare fire station, said the leak had been spotted by the centre’s site manager.
He said: “We advised people living locally to keep their doors and windows closed as a precautionary measure. We advised that people who didn’t need to be in the area keep away.
“It was a minimal leak and because it had not mixed with the other chemical, hydrochloric acid, it didn’t have the risk element to it.
“If things had escalated we would have had everything in place to cope with it. We are very satisfied with how things went.”
Comments
by dingbat32
Monday, May 14 2012, 5:06PM
“"We advised people living locally to keep their doors and windows closed as a precautionary measure. We advised that people who didn't need to be in the area keep away." Really. I live within a hundred yards of this incident & no-one came to my home to warn us. My son walked across the field behind the centre when it was all happening & walked right past a police officer who never said a word to him !!!!!”
by katachua
Monday, May 14 2012, 1:22PM
“Gas in Horfield? What next?”
by Kingswood_Lad
Monday, May 14 2012, 10:27AM
“They look like orange and lemon tic tacs”