Anaheim Area Evacuated Due to Fire, Fumes

Nearly 2,000 people were evacuated from a mile-square area of north Anaheim Sunday when a smoldering fire in a pesticide warehouse sent potentially deadly fumes spewing into the air, triggering fears of a chemical explosion.

No serious injuries were reported, but a motel, mobile home park, restaurant, 260-unit apartment complex and a portion of a nearby neighborhood were evacuated and a mile-long section of the Riverside Freeway was closed for four hours. Anaheim City Manager William Talley declared a state of emergency in the area Sunday so fire officials could take immediate steps to clear it.

Eight Persons Treated

Eight persons, including two California Highway Patrol officers, four California Department of Transportation workers and two firefighters, were briefly treated at nearby hospitals for possible exposure to the fumes.

Anaheim Fire Department investigator Mike Doty said the 5,000-square-foot warehouse contained four tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a stockpile of organophosphates and numerous pressurized barrels of methyl bromide and liquid petroleum gas.

The ammonium nitrate and gas are particularly explosive, he said, while the methyl bromide can be highly toxic.

By late afternoon, the methyl bromide and gas containers had been removed from the building, and Fire Department spokesman Jeff Bowman said firefighters had begun removing smoldering pallets, which were later extinguished in the open air.

A minor flare-up about 6 p.m. delayed plans to have the situation fully under control by 8 p.m. Sunday, almost ensuring that residents would not be allowed to return to their homes until sometime this morning.

“It all depends on how stable the stuff still in there is and if they can move it without too much problem,” said Bowman, adding that firefighters were also trying to segregate the chemicals to prevent any possible mixing of the substances.

The Red Cross said it was prepared to care for as many as 5,000 people in an emergency shelter set up at Katella High School. The first evacuees had gone to nearby Sycamore Junior High School, but when the evacuation area was expanded, the operation was shifted to the larger high school.

Doty said the blaze was reported at 10:44 p.m. Saturday in the office of the Larry Fricker Co., a pesticide and herbicide sales firm in the 1400 block of North State College Boulevard, near the Fullerton border.

Anaheim fire units contained the flames almost immediately, he said, but left the building quickly when the chemicals stored there were identified. The fire continued to smolder throughout the day among the stacks of chemicals.

Fumes from the fire appeared to be dangerous, he said, so the motel, a Denny’s restaurant and the Anaheim Royal mobile home park were evacuated, and the freeway, about a block from the fire, was closed while foam and other fire retardants were used by Anaheim specialists assisted by hazardous materials experts from Orange County and Huntington Beach fire departments.

“All these methods were somewhat effective but did not quite do the job. The fire was still smoldering and giving off fumes,” Doty said.

The chemicals are classified as poisons, and may be fatal if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the skin, Doty said. They may cause burns if they come in contact with skin or eyes.

By morning, although the freeway was reopened, the State College Boulevard on- and off-ramps remained closed.

A wider evacuation was ordered at about 11 a.m. Sunday after the fumes proved fatal to a cockateel that had been perched beside a window at a nearby apartment complex. Constantly shifting winds also raised concerns, and eventually an area bounded by Orangethorpe Avenue on the north, Romneya Drive on the south, Placentia Avenue to the east and Baxter Street on the west was cleared of residents. Police also checked all commercial and industrial areas in the vicinity to make sure they were unoccupied.

At the high school, about 40 people, mostly from the Chaparral Apartments complex near the fire site, spent time reading, talking with each other or taking care of pets they managed to round up before leaving their homes.

Some complained of “aching lungs,” and of air with a “very strong” chemical odor they had detected before they were evacuated. Others criticized the lack of information presented by police that they said left them confused about the danger, and when they could return home.

Apartment residents Ed Conover, 45, his wife, Patricia, and their two children, ages 10 and 16, were among those originally evacuated by police with bullhorns late Saturday.

Conover, with a group of other apartment residents and some from a trailer park, said that after spending Saturday night at the nearby junior high school, they were allowed to return to the apartment complex about 7 a.m.

Evacuated Second Time

“They told us everything was all right,” Conover said Sunday. “Then about 11:30 a.m. (Sunday) they came by our apartment complex and did it (evacuated us) again,” he said.

Alice Hutchison said she grabbed only clothes, money, and two pet parakeets, Pete and Queenie. “I thought that as long as I had my parakeets, I was okay,” she said.

Although she lived at the complex, she said that police only warned her and her two sons to keep windows closed and to turn off any air conditioners Saturday night.

“Then about 10:30 or 11 Sunday morning, the manager came and knocked on the door and said we had to get out. He was followed by police an hour later,” Hutchison said.

Despite police bullhorns, Jeff Jorgensen, 32, and his wife, Chris, 25, said they slept through the first evacuation but luckily heard warnings about the second one about 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Worried About Aftereffects

Jorgensen, originally from Portland, Ore., expressed concern about any environment aftereffects due to the fumes. “We have no idea what we’re going to be facing when we go back to our apartment,” he said.

During the afternoon, hazardous materials experts wearing astronaut-like anti-contamination suits spent 45 minutes inside the building assessing the situation and deciding which dangerous materials to remove.

They said that only one of the methyl bromide drums had ruptured and that the fumes had dissipated harmlessly, although two California Highway Patrol officers and three California Department of Transportation workers were briefly treated at nearby hospitals for suspected exposure to the fumes during the early morning freeway closure.

“Basically the chemicals are still in sacks,” said Dr. Rex Ehling, Orange County Health Officer, who said that a county health officer was at the scene monitoring the emergency.

Detailed Planning

Ehling said he doubted that residents would be allowed to return to the area until today.

The fires were allowed to smolder and no attempt was made to re-enter the building until late Sunday afternoon because, Bowman said, “We wanted to have all of our planning and preparations completed before we did anything. Everyone in the county who has anything to do with these kinds of substances, hazardous materials experts, chemists, was here and we didn’t want to get anyone hurt.”

Ammonium nitrates are especially sensitive to heat and moisture and the amount stored in the building, if it exploded, could “level a city block,” Bowman said.

The city has hired Crosby and Overton, a Long Beach chemical transport firm, to handle the eventual cleanup of the plant.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation Sunday night and was not expected to be established for another day or two, Bowman said.

Times staff writer Kim Murphy contributed to this story.