Equipment Problem Keeps Evacuees Out at Least 1 More Night

Blaming a breakdown of pumping equipment, Newport Beach officials said Wednesday that more than 200 residents evacuated during a toxic-chemical fire Sunday at a metal-finishing plant would be kept from their homes a fourth night.

Cleanup workers were expected to meet with fire and city officials at 6 a.m. today to reassess the situation and determine when employees of the Hixson Metal Finishing plant and nearby residents can return to the evacuated area. Between 2,000 and 4,000 gallons of spilled chemicals and runoff water are being pumped into tankers for disposal.

The cleanup was to have been completed Wednesday, but pumps and compressors operated by the IT Corp., the Long Beach company contracted to remove volatile chemicals from the Hixson plant, “kept breaking down,” Newport Beach Police Sgt. Joseph Lambert said.

Two nearby private schools, Carden Hall and Newport Beach Christian High, were closed Wednesday as a precautionary measure. Whether they would reopen today depended on the success of Wednesday night’s operation, Newport Beach Fire Capt. Donald Gray said.

Earlier Wednesday, a dozen Hixson employees sat just outside the area that had been cordoned off by police, awaiting word of when they could return to work, and residents stopped by throughout the day to inquire about when they could return to their homes.

The evacuees complained about being displaced for such a long period and about the inconveniences of being barred from their homes. It was not until Tuesday night that any of the residents were allowed back into the area to collect belongings.

Had Left Wallet Behind

Richard Rodriquez said he left his apartment with the clothes on his back and his car Sunday. He was without his wallet and the identification and cash it contained until Tuesday night.

That, Rodriquez said, meant he was dressed in jeans and boots instead of a business suit when he met with the regional district supervisor of his firm, L’Oreal Laboratories, earlier in the week. Rodriquez said he also teaches classes at L’Oreal.

“I had my educational aides, tools and equipment inside my apartment, thinking it would never go on as long as it did,” he said.

Rodriquez, who borrowed money from a colleague to buy clothing and toiletries, said he initially thought the evacuation was a routine safety measure. “I was not aware of the danger or the nature of the fire,” he said.

Rodriquez said he is strongly considering moving because of the fire and wonders how it will affect his neighbors. “I’m very curious to see the final outcome--the cause, repercussions health-wise and the effect on the living situation,” he said.

The cause of the fire, which started Sunday morning in the 10,000-square-foot building and released a cloud of potentially toxic fumes before it was extinguished Sunday night, has not been determined, Newport Beach Police Officer Kent Stoddard said. No damage estimate has been released.

Different Motels

Both Rodriquez and his roommate, David Skipworth, have stayed in a different motel each night since the fire, not knowing whether they would be returning home. Tuesday night they stayed at the Oak Creek Inn in Costa Mesa.

Skipworth, who drove by the scene Wednesday afternoon to see if he could go home, said he was getting “a little weary” of the evacuation.

“Initially, I don’t think anybody going into it realized how serious it was, but as time wore on, the more it appeared how serious it was,” he said.

Gary Arnold, who lives at Seacliff Manor, an apartment complex across the street to which residents were allowed to return Tuesday morning, said he left his apartment again Tuesday night when he received a notice telling him that the chemical cleanup would continue Wednesday. The notice, he said, suggested that residents leave the area if they had somewhere else to go.

Arnold, whose brother and his family also live at Seacliff Manor, said they stayed at a beach house belonging to Arnold’s boss and would return there Wednesday night.

Arnold said he was concerned that a business would be allowed to have so many toxic chemicals, especially cyanide, on hand in a residential neighborhood.

Stoddard said that 140 different chemicals were stored inside the building, including acids and three types of cyanide.

Another family evacuated from the area--Khosrow Alizadeh and his wife and three children--were sitting in their apartment when they first saw smoke Sunday, he said.

Complains of Headache

“The pressure of the fire--we could feel it on our face. We could see the flame,” he said.

Alizadeh, who drove by Wednesday afternoon to see when he could return home, said he suffered a bad headache from the fire and that his head still was bothering him.

Alizadeh said he was upset that he had paid for motel rooms out of his own pocket each night, and he complained that the city should not allow such dangerous operations so close to a residential area.

The Red Cross set up a shelter initially, but it was closed Tuesday night because so few people were staying there. The relief organization arranged for shelter at three area hotels both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The Oak Creek Inn in Costa Mesa, the Channel Inn Motel in Newport Beach and the Compri Hotel in Santa Ana offered free rooms to those unable to return to their homes.

Asked about complaints from evacuees anxious to return to their homes, Fire Capt. Gray said the “phones have been ringing off the hook.”

“Mostly the people calling just want to go home,” he said.

He added that Robert Hixson, president of the metal-finishing plant, has been cooperative, as have his employees.

Hixson Concerned

Hixson expressed concern Wednesday about some of the information reported about the fire.

Hixson said initial reports of a cloud of cyanide gas are completely unfounded. He added that the danger had been exaggerated and that local residents and businesses may have been unnecessarily alarmed.

Officer Lambert said the cleanup operation had gone more slowly than expected Wednesday because cleanup crews had cautiously avoided mixing any dangerous toxic materials.

And, Lambert said, “the equipment breakdown took away from the pumping time.”

Cleanup crews were using a large pumping hose connected to a compressor to remove acids from dipping vats inside the plant.

The hazardous materials then were pumped into 55-gallon plastic drums that are temporarily being stored at the site, Lambert said.

Gray said workers “will continue pumping late into the night” Wednesday, but he could not say whether they would work non-stop until the cleanup is finished.

Stoddard said: “We’re not allowing anybody back in until they’re at least finished pumping. But finishing is not a guarantee that people will be let in. Then the situation has to be reassessed, but we hope to be able to allow people in at that point.

“Even after the pumping is completed, there are still dangerous chemicals in the building, but the most severe threat will be abated. They’re being very, very careful. We’d rather keep people out until it is safe than let them return early and have problems and let things get worse than they already were.”