Fumes Overcome Truck Driver After Spill at Laguna Hills Plant

A truck driver was overcome by caustic fumes and work was disrupted at a Laguna Hills light manufacturing complex Monday when a 55-gallon drum of industrial detergent overturned and spilled in the bed of the driver’s truck, Orange County fire officials said.

Orange County firefighters quickly built a temporary dike to hold back the chemical, identified as n-lauryl ether sulfate, in the 22900 block of La Cadena Drive. Officials for the state Fish and Game Department later determined that none of the detergent had seeped into the flood control channel, Fire Department spokesman Pat Antrim said.

Antrim said the chemical is a skin irritant and an environmental hazard to animals.

The incident began about 1 p.m. when truck driver Ray Ellithrope, 34, of Lakewood drove off a curb as he pulled out of a driveway in the industrial complex, Antrim said. The jolt toppled a 55-gallon drum of the chemical in the bed of his truck.

When Ellithrope went back to investigate, he was overcome by caustic fumes, Antrim said. The driver for Rapid Freight Systems was treated at the scene by Fire Department paramedics for acute respiratory distress, then taken to the emergency room at Saddleback Community Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said he was released in good condition.

The area remained cordoned off late Monday as firefighters waited for a private hazardous waste removal firm to clean up the spill, Antrim said.