Fumes From Meth-Lab Barrels Force Evacuation

Ten Westminster businesses and a home for senior citizens were evacuated Wednesday after authorities discovered leaking barrels of hydrochloric acid dumped behind a Little Saigon store, fire officials said.

A worker called police shortly before noon after finding three 5-foot-tall containers propped against a fence in the 14900 block of Dillow Street. Fumes spewed from at least one of the barrels, forming a small cloud.

Firefighters and a hazardous materials team determined that the hydrochloric acid was left over from a methamphetamine lab. It was the third such dumping incident in the area in less than two months, fire officials said.

A private contractor that specializes in the disposal of chemicals diluted the solution, which produced enough air pressure to blow the valve off the top of the barrel.

“That’s what makes this unsafe, not knowing what was mixed, how long it had been mixed or how much was mixed,” said Battalion Chief Don Forsyth of the Orange County Fire Authority. “This isn’t something that you can just go out and buy.”

Employees at 10 businesses and 50 senior citizens from the Family Christian Home, who are mostly Vietnamese immigrants, were evacuated.

The American Red Cross and the Westminster Senior Center provided translation services, food and shelter for many of the residents. Others waited under trees or walked along Bolsa Avenue until they were allowed to return to their homes.

Minh Trong, a Vietnamese author who has lived in the two-story senior complex for 10 months, was writing when fire officials knocked on his door. He left with only the gray sweatsuit he was wearing, a pair of slippers and several Vietnamese magazines.

“This is an inconvenience but it’s worth it to make sure we’re safe,” Trong said.

Officials said the barrels are often used to mix chemicals to produce hydrochloric acid, which can be used to make meth. Police are investigating, he said.

Huge barrels were also discovered last month about a mile away at Brookhurst Street and Hazard Avenue, where no one was evacuated, and on Aug. 18, at Weststate Street and Bolsa Avenue, where 50 people were evacuated from 15 businesses.