Haz Mat Incident at Raytheon



Engine 611 with hoseline for decon station.



December 16, 2011 - This call happened on Dec. 6th.  At 1231 hrs Units from 11 were dispatched for a haz-mat incident at 22265 Pacific Blvd.  The assignment also brought companies 18, 23, 6, 19(for the haz-mat team), BC601, BC603, SO600 and EMS600., ...


      While enroute ECC advised that a white powdery substance had been found in a letter in the mailroom.  It was also said that the room had been evacuated and sealed.  ECC advised the caller to have building evacuated.  E611(Schumacher) and Tower 611(Lambert) arrived along with E698(running out of station 23, Hankin) to find a 6 story office building being evacuated.  The officer from E611 was met by representatives from Raytheon who stated that they the room sealed and the employees who had found the substance had not been exposed.  E611 set up Raytheon Command and had incoming units slow their response and stage on Pacific Blvd.  BC601 arrived shortly thereafter and did a face to face with E611, then assumed command of the incident.  Command placed everyone in service except companies 11 and 19.  Units from company 19 began arriving and positioned at the front of the building.  The Haz-Mat unit(Rovelli) along with the support unit and Tower619(Lantz) began setting up for entry.  While members were being prepped for entry the support unit was utilizing company 11 members for setting up the decon area.  BC603(Johnson) arrived, spoke with Command and was given charge of the Haz-Mat group.

     At approximately 1330 hrs the haz-mat  team made entry to begin recon and testing of the substance.  Initial testing takes approximately 20 minutes.  The team ran multiple tests to verify that the substance was not a threat to public safety personnel or the general public.  They also metered the atmosphere in the room for any hazards.  Fortunately, the initial tests found the product not to be hazardous.  At 1410 hrs the entry team exited the building, handed a bagged sample of the product to another team member for further testing.  The entry team then went through a modified decon process.  After going through decon the team was assisted with removal of their suits and went to rehab to check exit vitals.  Final testing of the product showed the substance was harmless.  It turned out it was a glitter mix that had come off a Christmas card during USPS shipping process.  No hazards were found and units cleaned up equipment and returned to service.


 


Incident Command Post





           

Members being prepped for entry 

                   

Assisting entry team with dressing down.

 





Entry Team getting ready to go through decon