Sulfuryl fluoride - VIKANE
CAS No. 2699-79-8

Fire in fumigated building prompts 300 to evacuate.
By Pauline Repard. San Diego UnionTribune (Calif.). March 25, 2006.
 
 

 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060325-9999-6m25ncfire.html

March 25, 2006

The San Diego Union Tribune (Calif.)

Fire in fumigated building prompts 300 to evacuate

By Pauline Repard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

NATIONAL CITY – More than 300 people were evacuated from their homes last night when a three-alarm fire broke out in a D Avenue apartment building filled with fumigation chemicals.

No one was injured as firefighters worked for hours to quell flames and a towering column of smoke.

The Red Cross set up an evacuation center at Sweetwater High School for displaced neighborhood residents.

As of late last night, fire officials did not know when it would be safe for residents to return.

“This operation will go on for quite a while,” National City Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Don Condon said at 11 p.m.

The cause of the fire was not known. Condon said investigators likely wouldn't enter the building until morning.

Nearby residents reported smoke coming from the roof of the two-story apartment building at 8:45 p.m.

The building is one of several in a single apartment complex on D Avenue between 24th and 26th streets.

All the buildings were being fumigated, Condon said, but only one caught fire. He said Vikane gas was being used for the fumigation.

Condon said he did not know if tenants of the complex had relocated before the fumigation process began.

Firefighters arrived to see flames coming through the roof. “As we peeled away the tent, we got more active flames,” Condon said.

“Our concern was for the Vikane in the smoke,” he said.

The thick column of smoke rose straight up into the still night air.

National City police evacuated the 354 neighboring residents, Condon said.

Police said some people along D Avenue refused to go, so they were advised to stay indoors with windows shut.

“The toxicity of the smoke is why we evacuated people,” Condon said.

National City fire crews were assisted by firefighters from San Diego, Chula Vista, Bonita and Coronado for a total of eight engines and four trucks.

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Pauline Repard: (619) 293-1893; pauline.repard@uniontrib.com

 
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