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Odor at storage facility was caused by leak of muriatic acid, officials say

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An odor reported Wednesday afternoon in Costa Mesa was the result of muriatic acid that leaked and was eating away at concrete inside a storage unit, fire officials said.

The Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department responded to the Life Storage facility at 3190 Pullman St. after a report of an acetone-like odor at about 2:10 p.m., said Capt. Chris Coates.

Officials determined the smell was coming from a unit that contained several hazardous materials, including muriatic acid. Diluted muriatic acid can be used for tasks such as removing stains from swimming pool surfaces.

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Coates said crews used another substance to neutralize the acid and then cleaned up the spill. Hazardous-materials teams from the Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County Health Care Agency assisted with the investigation.

Authorities cleaned up the unit by 6 p.m.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN


UPDATES:

10:10 a.m. May 10: This article was updated with the cause of the odor and details of the spill.

This article was originally published at 5:15 p.m. May 9.

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