Five people were sent to the hospital Thursday evening after a chemical reaction occurred in an Eastlake home, Eastlake Fire said.
Thursday, Barb Niederkorn was in her house when she heard a loud pop; when she walked outside, she was shocked to see multiple fire trucks as well as hazmat running into her neighbor's home.
“I don't know if it was children and adults, but there was people being led out and they're put into the ambulance,” said Barb Niederkorn.
Eastlake Fire Chief Ted Whittington said that the noise was from a chemical reaction caused by a resident mixing chlorine as they prepared to shock their pool.
“We don't believe that there was actually an explosion; what we believe was there was a chemical reaction, and the chemical reaction got hot and probably spewed the chemicals,” said Whittington.
During the incident, there were 11 people inside who immediately evacuated, when the fire department arrived, they found the family outside using a garden hose to rinse everyone off.
Of that, five were taken to the hospital, which included three adults and two kids ages 3 and 6. Their symptoms included itchy eyes, trouble breathing and some minor chlorine burns. They are all in stable condition.
The other six were okay but instructed by the fire department to monitor for any symptoms.
As for the home, Whittington said it’s ventilated and secure, but the family can't live in it until the insurance cleans it. As they continue to investigate, officials remind everyone to be careful with chemicals, especially ahead of pool season.
“We always refer to the people that work at these companies. They sell the equipment a lot of times we would rely on them,” said Whittington.
Whittington also told News 5 that the neighboring homes were not exposed to that chlorine cloud just in case they will be monitoring with PH papers for the next few days.
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