57 Treated, School Closes After Fire at Paint Factory Sends Out Chemical Cloud

Fire in a paint factory sent a chemical cloud wafting over the Boyle Heights area, forcing the closure Tuesday of one elementary school, causing 57 RTD workers to be treated after they inhaled fumes and persuading many neighborhood residents to stay indoors.

The cause of the fire at Bauer Coating and Chemical Co. at 1021 N. Mission Road was under investigation. But Los Angeles Fire Department officials said it apparently broke out just before midnight Monday in some paint materials and spread to a structure containing chemical holding tanks. Twelve engine companies subdued the blaze in about 45 minutes.

Heat from the fire and water from the building’s sprinkler system combined with chemicals in the 1,000-gallon tank to produce a noxious gas that continued to fume until dawn, officials said.

“It was like a haze over the whole area,” said Nora Martel, who lives on Bridge Street near the fire area. “It smelled like rotten eggs and burned our eyes.”

“The smell was stronger outside,” Martel’s brother, Louis, said. “But you could still smell it inside the house.”

The chemical vapor--carrying elements of an epoxy compound that Bauer manufactures as an adhesive for traffic markers--was generally unpleasant to breath and caused eye irritation, but was not considered toxic, county Health Department spokesman Steve Stewart said.

Health workers were called to the scene early Tuesday to evaluate the chemicals and any potential health risk they might pose and to determine whether special cleanup procedures would be necessary. The compounds were later determined not to be dangerous and company workers began cleaning up the mess with shovels and brooms.

Still, 32 workers at the Southern California Rapid Transit District’s bus maintenance center, across the street from Bauer on Mission Road, were taken to six area hospitals complaining of dizziness and eye irritation. All were treated and released.

“Everybody else was advised to take the rest of the night off,” RTD spokesman Greg Davie said.

The 50 buses in the yard for servicing were taken to other RTD centers “and were started on time” Tuesday morning, Davie said.

But when the morning shift reported to work at the Mission Road facility at 7:30 a.m., an additional 25 workers were sent to an RTD medical office to be treated for irritation from the lingering fumes, Davie said.

Police closed off Mission between Macy and Marengo streets from midnight until about 9:30 a.m. And The California Highway Patrol closed the Mission off-ramp from the southbound Golden State Freeway at 6:30 a.m. It also was reopened at about 9:30.

Soon after the fire broke out, police cars cruised the neighborhood and officers warned residents over public address systems to stay in their homes and keep their doors and windows shut as winds carried the cloud of fumes in a southerly direction.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials, advised of the condition, decided Tuesday morning to close the nearby Bridge Street Elementary School.

“We thought it was better to not have the kids in,” explained Assistant Los Angeles Schools Supt. Angie Stockwell. “The best place for them was at home.”

Many of the 544 students got word of the unexpected holiday from early morning radio reports, while others were met by teachers and administrators as they were dropped off at school by their parents. Children who went to school on their own were held until an adult could be reached.

About 19 children who attended the child care center at Bridge Street School were taken to the Evergreen Child Care Center for the day.

Stockwell said no students or staff members were affected by the chemical vapors.

“We will be open Wednesday unless something else happens,” Stockwell said.

Ed Rouiller, general manager of Bauer Chemical, a division of Los Angeles-based Whittaker Corp., said the firm has been at the Boyle Heights site since 1919. He said the company was doing business as usual on Tuesday.

“Everything is operating except this one tank,” he said.

“We are very sensitive to these (environmental) issues,” Rouiller said. “This is the first problem we’ve had . . . and I’ve been here 16 years.”

Unshaded area is where residents were advised to stay indoors.

1. Whittaker Chemical Co.

2. RTD Bus Yard

3. Bridge Street Elementary