5 Hurt at Company in Chatsworth as Peroxide Explodes

A hydrogen peroxide container exploded Tuesday morning at a Chatsworth company, injuring five people, two of them seriously, and resulting in the evacuation of about 50 people.

The explosion at Circuit Manufacturing Inc., in the 9500 block of Owensmouth Avenue, occurred after a worker tried to open the 55-gallon container of hydrogen peroxide. The solution splashed onto him and, in his attempt to dilute the spilled solution, he accidentally poured water into the container. The water caused the contents to foam and expand until they ruptured the container and exploded in his face, Los Angeles Fire Department Cmdr. Jack Bennett said.

The worker, Teodelo Guerrero, 52, and another employee, Armando Salgado, 18, suffered burns on their faces, chests, hands and arms and were airlifted to Sherman Oaks Community Hospital Burn Center, Bennett said.

Firefighter Gary Mellinger, paramedic Mark Alberi and an unidentified employee of the firm were treated for inhalation of the fumes and for minor burns. They were released later Tuesday from West Park Hospital in Canoga Park, hospital officials said.

About 50 people were evacuated from Circuit Manufacturing and four nearby businesses about 8:30 a.m. while water was used to flush the potentially explosive hydrogen peroxide into a storage tank, where it was diluted and neutralized, Bennett said.

While waiting for firefighters to clear the building, an employee outside the plant said “it was like a volcano” when the container exploded.

“It was just like foam all over the floor, like white soap,” said Jose Parra, who was working near where the explosion occurred. “It got real hot, and the window started shaking,” he said.

The water-diluted solution was about 50% hydrogen peroxide; the common household solution is about 3%, Bennett said.

Firefighters hosed down Guerrero before airlifting him to the hospital. Guerrero and Salgado were in stable condition, hospital officials said.

Pressure in Container

Bennett said the chemical first splashed on the worker because of pressure in the container, which might have built up from the tank being jostled when it was shipped to the plant the day before.

Bennett said the company had met all permit requirements for having hazardous materials, and no previous incidents had been reported at the company, which makes circuit boards.

In an unrelated incident Tuesday, fire officials ordered a Van Nuys business evacuated after discovering that a two-quart glass flask containing a corrosive liquid, silicon tetrachloride, had broken and spilled into a second protective plastic container.

The spill was discovered shortly after 10 a.m. at Lightwave Technologies Inc., in the 6700 block of Valjean Avenue.

Ron Chesler, vice president for manufacturing, said the chemical was neutralized with sodium bicarbonate. Although the chemical never escaped from the second container, the evacuation was carried out as a precaution, he said.

About 50 people in Lightwave and three neighboring businesses were evacuated while fire officials checked the plant, which manufactures fiber-optic glass.