8 Hospitalized as Fumes Shut Down Courthouse

Eight employees were hospitalized and the Torrance courthouse closed for more than two hours Tuesday after a security guard trying to remove a floor stain mistakenly mixed chlorine and ammonia, creating hydrochloric acid fumes that filled the five-story building.

The guard was trying to remove stains in a first-floor hallway of the courthouse on Maple Avenue at 10:30 a.m. when he poured the two cleaning agents into a bucket, said Chris Crawford, administrator of the South Bay Municipal Court.

Several employees on the first and second floors soon reported shortness of breath and nausea, and the guard and seven others were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Torrance Memorial Medical Center. All were later released.