Leaky Barrel Spurs Evacuation, Arrests

A half-mile stretch of La Palma Avenue in Anaheim was blocked off for three hours Friday morning and 20 people were evacuated from nearby businesses after a flammable liquid began leaking from one of 16 allegedly stolen barrels on a truck.

Alvin Kenneth Smiley, 32, of Los Angeles and two 17-year-old males whose names were not released were arrested at La Palma Avenue and Grove Street, less than a half-mile from the Multiwire West Co., where employees had reported the theft early Friday morning of several chemical barrels, most of them empty, an Anaheim police spokesman said.

The three were booked for misdemeanor theft, according to city information officer Sheri Erlewine. Smiley was being held at the Anaheim City Jail while the youths were taken to the county’s Juvenile Hall.

‘A Little Puddle Dripping’

When police apprehended the suspects at the intersection around 5:30 a.m., there was “just a little puddle dripping from the back of the truck,” police Sgt. Chet Barry said.

The three suspects told police they had a salvage business and were collecting the barrels from area businesses for recycling, Erlewine said.

Anaheim firefighters, unable to determine the contents of the leaking barrel, notified the Orange County Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team (HAZMAT), according to Capt. Bob Hirst of the Anaheim Fire Department.

HAZMAT workers and firefighters were concerned that electrical sparks in the air from Santa Ana winds might ignite the chemicals, causing an explosion that could have been “very, very devastating,” Erlewine said.

Twenty people were evacuated from two businesses at the intersection and the street was blocked off while firefighters cleaned up the liquid, Erlewine said.

Although no injuries were reported, police Officer Richard Raulston and the three suspects were taken to area hospitals for decontamination, Erlewine said.

She did not identify the chemical but described it as a highly flammable organic solution. It was neutralized by the HAZMAT unit.

“The other barrels were essentially empty, except for some residue on the outside,” she said.

Some of the barrels contained traces of toluene and methyl ethyl ketone, “potentially flammable solvents” that individually could cause minor skin irritation and nausea and, if mixed, could be highly flammable, Erlewine said. Hydrochloric acid residue was found on the outside of some of the barrels, she added.