Ammonia gas leak from tanker truck in Oklahoma sickens dozens and forces evacuations

WEATHERFORD Okla AP A leaking tanker truck spewed dangerous ammonia gas outside a hotel overnight filling its hallways with fumes and forcing hundreds of nearby residents of a small Oklahoma city to evacuate officers reported Thursday Several dozen people were treated at hospitals Representatives lifted a shelter-in-place order Thursday morning hours after firefighters wearing gas masks went door to door in Weatherford waking people up and telling them to leave because of the anhydrous ammonia leak An oil field worker staying at the hotel where the truck had been parked disclosed he heard a faint pop Wednesday night and noticed a smell minutes later He and a coworker left their room and hustled into a hallway and then an elevator filling up with a pungent odor Once outside they saw their vehicles underneath a cloud of ammonia stated Michael Johnson of Nacogdoches Texas The smell itself punched me he disclosed He took off running but noticed his roommate wasn t with him and saw that he had run for their trucks He commented a police officer managed to save his coworker His lips were purple and frozen shut Johnson stated His eyes were bloodshot red His skin was all red Johnson ascertained one person stumbling and gave him a shirt to put over his mouth At one point he looked at the smoke and saw they were surrounded thinking We re going to die Police revealed people were treated at a local hospital and patients were taken to Oklahoma City area hospitals Several casualties remained in intensive care late Thursday but the majority were in stable condition police mentioned in a comment Dozens more received medicine at casualty centers Five responding officers sustained chemical burns to their airways police noted At least to people went to a shelter early Thursday while others were ordered to remain inside their homes for several hours Chosen nursing homes were evacuated and schools were closed for the day A leaking gasket from a tanker truck carrying pounds kilograms of ammonia was responsible the EPA reported in a written comment The National Transportation Safety Board stated it was researching Anhydrous ammonia is used as a farm fertilizer to help corn and wheat grow The colorless gas has a suffocating odor and can be deadly especially at high concentrations or cause breathing problems and burns to the skin and eyes Just last week an anhydrous ammonia leak forced evacuations near Yazoo City Mississippi and two years ago five people died in Illinois when a tanker truck spilled anhydrous ammonia after it was forced off a road by a passing minivan The cleanup in Weatherford a city of people about miles kilometers west of Oklahoma City could take several days the police chief noted We pretty much got a lot of this stuff diluted right now Orefice announced adding that government were working with environmental executives The EPA stated subsequent air monitoring did not detect any ammonia in the local residential area The levels of pH in the local creek were within normal and the levels detected in the soil were expected to naturally neutralize over a short period The driver of the truck carrying the gas had parked behind a Holiday Inn Express to get a room there for the evening Orefice mentioned The cause seemed to be a mechanical failure on a valve or a faulty seal the police chief explained Agents reported the air quality was being monitored and that the tanker truck was no longer leaking A number of agencies were assisting including hazmat crews and the Oklahoma National Guard Trisha Doucet called police for help when she learned the leak was blocks away from where her mother was caring for her bed-bound -year-old grandmother An ambulance was expeditiously dispatched to get her to safety Her grandmother who is on hospice was reluctant to leave But this is my house she announced Doucet who used to work as an EMT and knew the dangers of anhydrous ammonia recalled telling her grandmother That s the hardest part I know it s your house but you really have to go