Santa Paula Fire Chief Rick Araiza briefed Councilmember-elect John Procter Saturday morning at the Community Center, where business owners and the community met regarding the explosions and fire that led to evacuations of the Mission Rock Road area.

Explosions: Businesses to return to Mission Rock Road must be prepared

November 22, 2014
Santa Paula News

The clock was ticking Saturday for more than two-dozen businesses and about six families who were told at a multi-agency community meeting Saturday that at 4 p.m. they could return to the area they had been evacuated from since a chemical explosion Tuesday.

“It’s been a pretty rough week,” Ventura County Fire Captain Mike Lindbery told the crowd that included Santa Paula Mayor Rick Cook.

But there was a caveat for those told they could return: they must be prepared to again evacuate if necessary during the cleanup effort for the still undetermined, unstable and unpredictable chemical that exploded early Tuesday morning, causing almost 50 people — including three Santa Paula Firefighters — to be treated for symptoms of exposure to toxins.

Held at the Santa Paula Community Century the meeting drew about 70 business owners, residents and interested community members who heard from county fire, law enforcement and environmental health personnel as well as a representative of the US Environmental Protection Agency about the situation in the area surrounding Santa Clara Waste Water, owned by Green Compass Co.

Farmers who had been downwind of the explosion, which occurred November 18 at 345 a.m., were advised by Korinne Bell, deputy agricultural commissioner, not to harvest new crops and limit worker access to the fields until soil sample results are determined. 

She noted that Food and Drug Administration officials would soon be in the area. 

Asst. VCFD Chief Rod Megli said one of the responding fire engines that had to be abandoned at the scene — the tires of the trucks caught fire in the pool of chemicals — was being decontaminated. 

He noted the engine would also soon be moved from partially blocking the roadway at 815 Mission Rock Road, still considered a hot zone.

A secondary explosion ripped through the property at about 8:30 a.m. when a vapor cloud ignited and set tanks storing chemicals on fire. Firefighters could only monitor the situation and let the fires burn themselves out, as the unknown chemical(s) —scattered throughout a 400-foot radius — are so volatile that when dry they can be ignited by a touch.

Property downwind of the incident far as 1.5 mile is considered the defense line said Tom Dunkelman of the EPA, who noted “There were quite a few chemicals on the property,” that must be determined to ensure they won’t trigger further incidents during clean up. 

He added air monitored over a 48-hour period has been good.

Ventura County Sheriff Captain Dave Wareham said businesses in the area where the blast occurred were out of the line of the smoke and fumes that were initially blown northwest. 

VCFD Hazmat Specialist Steve Baker said there are still questions about the chemicals involved in the explosion that could have resulted from “fugitive emissions… ” 

Officials said they were unable to answer questions regarding the circumstances or sequence of events that led up to the explosion, which is now the focus of a District Attorney’s Office investigation.

Kevin McGowan with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services said a list of the businesses expected to reopen Saturday would be posted at www.vcemergency.com

This is an aerial view of the area where an explosion and hazardous material incident occurred Tuesday





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