70 Exposed to Fumes From Chemical Mix at Navy Base

At least 70 people were exposed to toxic fumes at the Navy base Sunday night and as many as 28 of them were hospitalized after a cleanup crew improperly mixed cleaning fluids inside the barracks, authorities said.

The victims, Air Force Junior ROTC cadets visiting the Construction Battalion Center, were apparently exposed to a noxious mixture of chlorine and ammonia about 8:05 p.m., Navy officials said.

Seven victims in the cleaning crew suffered the most severe exposure, requiring attention at the scene, emergency workers said.

“All of them that were most ill were in the ROTC program,” said Wade Miller, a Gold Coast Ambulance paramedic. “They were cleaning. They mixed Ajax, Chlorox Bleach and ammonia because they were doing some cleaning, and they got overcome with fumes.”

The toxic mixture can produce symptoms such as severe nausea, head and chest pains and shortness of breath. The cleaning crew was so ill that they had to be carried from the building, Miller said. “They were very, very sick,” he said. They improved after receiving oxygen and were taken to area hospitals.

Other students, ages 14 to 18, also suffered symptoms from exposure to the fumes in the barracks, but many were walking around and did not need hospitalization.

“Basically, it just grew,” Miller said. “At first it was seven, but it grew and grew and grew. When you’re ROTC you do all the dirty work.”

Paramedics took 11 victims to Saint John’s Regional Medical Center, five to Ventura County Medical Center, five to Community Memorial Hospital and seven to Pleasant Valley Hospital.

A hazardous materials team from the base arrived first on scene and quickly dealt with the toxic fumes emanating from the improper mix of the chemicals. The team then requested assistance in helping victims from the Ventura County and Oxnard fire departments, as well as local ambulance firms.

The county sent in four engine companies, as well as numerous containers of oxygen. Oxnard contributed two fire engine companies and a squad car to oversee operations.

At least six ambulances were dispatched to the scene throughout the evening to assist the ailing students. Gold Coast Ambulance sent in a medical operations mobile unit--a mini-hospital in a tractor-trailer rig--where emergency workers scrambled to help the dozens of victims.

By 10 p.m., ambulances were still moving in and out of the Sunkist Street gate of the base.

Scott Steepleton is a Times correspondent and Darryl Kelley is a Times staff writer.