Hospital Evacuates 50 After False Alarm
About 50 employees were evacuated from a Santa Clarita hospital Wednesday after a sensor that detects hazardous chemicals set off an alarm in a basement storage area, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
Officials had not determined what caused the alarm to sound at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital about 7:30 a.m., Capt. Jim Powers said.
No patients were evacuated, Powers said.
Officials allowed the employees back inside the building about 11:30 a.m. after determining that there was no hazard, he said.
Hospital spokeswoman Caroline Korth said the sensor is near an area where potentially toxic ethylene oxide is stored, but Powers said no traces of the chemical were detected in air samples. The chemical is used to sterilize surgical instruments, Korth said.
The employees who were evacuated work in the basement and in the first-floor cafeteria, Korth said.
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