Liquid Oxygen Leak Forces Evacuation of Therapy Unit : Public safety: Firefighters, fearing explosion, get patients and employees out of affected area of facility.

A leak in a 1,000-gallon liquid oxygen tank forced the evacuation Thursday of critical-care patients and personnel at a respiratory therapy facility here, fire officials said.

About 30 firefighters and members of hazardous materials teams responded to an emergency call at Vencor Corp. Critical Care facility in the 200 block of Hospital Circle.

An employee discovered a leak about 11:40 a.m. in an oxygen tank in the building’s loading dock, said Capt. Craig Campbell, spokesman for the Westminster Fire Department.

Fearing that the leaking gas could cause an explosion, firefighters evacuated the facility’s personnel and moved its 46 patients, 20 of whom were hooked up to breathing ventilators, to another wing in the building, Campbell said.

The move of the critical-care patients, especially those on the ventilators, was particularly difficult for firefighters, he said.

“We had to substitute the mechanical ventilators with portable resuscitators, and it took some doing,” Campbell said.

Several dozen hospital employees were evacuated across the street as hazardous materials units from Huntington Beach and Newport Beach contained the leak. All available Westminster firefighters were present to help carry out the evacuation, said Campbell.

The patients were taken back to their rooms about 1 p.m. after the firefighters plugged the leak, Campbell said.

Fire investigators speculated that one of the tank’s valves may have frozen shut, creating pressure that found an outlet through a relief valve, he said. Such tanks are supposed to be inspected at least once a year.

Hospital officials declined comment.

Among the dozens of employees evacuated was Jose Madrigal, who works in the hospital’s Environmental Services Department. Madrigal said that when he heard of the leak he did not panic, but when he saw the firefighters, “I really got scared and started heading for the door.”

“You don’t play around with gas, it doesn’t matter if it’s oxygen,” Madrigal said. “The right combination and, boom! “