Local News in Brief : Toxic Cloud Causes Evacuation of Block

An ammonia leak at a North Hollywood ice-making plant Thursday released a cloud of irritating vapor and caused the evacuation of 70 residents and workers from a square-block area for about three hours. There were no injuries.

The leak was caused by maintenance workers who cracked a storage tank at the North Hollywood Ice House, 5241 N. Craner Ave., a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said. The noxious cloud forced the workers to flee before they could contain it by shutting off a valve, the spokesman said.

Five fire companies, a rescue ambulance and a hazardous-materials team based in Van Nuys responded to the leak.

The leak was reported at 12:44 p.m., and the valve was closed at about 2 p.m. Residents were allowed to return home at 3:45 p.m.

Ice company workers were not allowed back into the building until several hours later, after firefighters had used blowers to dispel the ammonia, the Fire Department spokesman said.

Two firefighters who attempted to shut off the valve while protected by breathing apparatus were forced to abandon the job because the vapor seeped into their protective clothing, Battalion Chief Robert MacMillan of North Hollywood Fire Station 60 said.