Santa Ana : Leaking Diesel Fuel Forces 300 to Evacuate

An emergency generator’s fuel system, being tested for leaks, overflowed and spilled about 200 gallons of diesel fuel into the basement of the county Finance and Engineering Building at the Civic Center Friday morning, forcing the evacuation of about 300 employees.

Firefighters cut off power to the building because “a spark could have ignited (the fumes) and we would have had a catastrophe on our hands,” said Jess Hernandez, acting battalion chief for the Fire Department.

While a truck was vacuuming up the spilled fuel, police kept onlookers at a distance and routed traffic away from sections of Civic Center Drive West and Broadway.

Hernandez said one office worker with a heart condition was taken to a local hospital after complaining of a headache. There were no other injuries reported, and the building was not damaged, he said.

The spill occurred about 10:30 a.m. Except for a “skeleton crew” to tend county computers, no one was allowed to return to the building until about 4 p.m., Hernandez said.

Workers were filling a diesel fuel tank in a parking lot to test for leaks and pumped about 300 gallons before discovering that the fuel was leaking into the basement, Hernandez said.

The large tank supplies smaller tanks attached to emergency electrical generators in the basement. Apparently while the large tank was being filled, one or more of the smaller tanks was leaking downstairs, he said.