Hazmat Incident Triggered By Accidental Chemical Mixture In OC

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — A hazardous material alert was triggered Wednesday in Huntington Beach when an employee of a business mistakenly mixed up chemicals in a 55-gallon drum, authorities said.

The alert was sent out at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 5200 block of News Boy Circle, near the TS Conductor building, according to the Huntington Beach Fire Department.

The alert was a direct result of an employee accidentally mixing chemicals into a drum while not realizing that it was already filled with other chemicals, authorities said.

The mixture "started to self-heat," Huntington Beach Fire Department Capt. Steve Teasdale said.

About 50 employees in the business that makes conductors were led out of the building and employees in neighboring businesses were sheltering in place, Teasdale said.

Huntington Beach firefighters, with help from Anaheim's firefighters, huddled up to devise a plan to address the hazard, Teasdale said.