Toxic Chemical Cloud Forces Hundreds to Flee in Paso Robles

Hundreds of people fled homes, businesses and an airport Wednesday when a potentially deadly cloud mushroomed from a ruptured hose at a chemical company, authorities said.

As a precaution, prisoners at a nearby California Youth Authority camp were locked inside buildings with windows and doors hastily sealed with duct tape.

No one was hurt and an estimated 600 evacuees were expected to be allowed back into the evacuation zone as night fell Wednesday, Fire Marshal Bob Adams said.

Hazardous materials teams and air pollution experts tested the area throughout the afternoon.

“The situation is now stabilized at the plant. Nobody is contaminated,” Adams said eight hours after the pipe burst and sent a poisonous cloud over an airport industrial park and residential area northeast of downtown Paso Robles, 160 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The leak from the Chemron Corp. plant was stopped and the toxic cloud had dissipated by 9:15 a.m.

The chemical was identified as heated toluene diisocyanate, a combustible liquid.

The gas began escaping about 4 a.m. during a process to manufacture foam earplugs, Adams said.

City Manager James App said the industrial park, airport and homes on Jardine and Dry Creek roads were evacuated about 6 a.m. California 46 was closed for a time.

“There was a plume of chemical and steam. It is deadly if inhaled, ingested or absorbed by the skin,” Adams said. The gray cloud hovered over the Paso Robles County Airport area for hours.

The Chemron plant mainly manufactures cleaning chemicals and chemicals for cosmetic and beauty products.