Huntington Beach : Cloud of Gas Prompts Evacuation at City Hall
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About 200 people were evacuated from City Hall, the Police Department and a Cablesystems office when a cloud of noxious-smelling gas believed to have come from a nearby oil well drifted over the Civic Center area Wednesday afternoon.
Fire Chief Robert Picard said that the gas was probably hydrogen sulfide, which is sometimes released when wells are “steamed” in a secondary oil-extraction process. “We have reports from people in Fountain Valley, too, so it appears to be drifting in that direction,” he said. “It really just passes over, although it will come in through an air-conditioning system, which is probably what happened at City Hall,” he added.
The City Hall evacuation order was issued at 4:45 p.m., although most employees had already left the building. The “all-clear” signal was given about 30 minutes later.
City Hall was evacuated two years ago for the same reason, Picard said.
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