400 Evacuated as 2 Drums Leak Chemicals After Overturning
About 400 people were evacuated from a North Hollywood business district Friday after two containers of a substance used to clean water tanks overturned in a parked truck.
The tanks released a strong odor, but no injuries were reported, said Jim Wells, a Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman.
Wells said the two five-gallon containers overturned about 3 p.m. in a tractor-trailer parked in the 7300 block of Varna Avenue, just north of Sherman Way and east of Woodman Avenue. Occupants of nearby businesses were evacuated as a precaution, and about 30 firefighters and the department’s hazardous-materials team went to the scene.
The substance was later identified by the Los Angeles County Health Department as gularluehyde, which Wells said is used to clean scales off the sides of water tanks. He said the substance is slightly toxic.
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