Temecula Eatery Temporarily Evacuated Following Hazmat Situation

TEMECULA, CA – A Temecula restaurant was temporarily evacuated and shuttered over the weekend when a carbon monoxide leak was discovered, fire officials report.

It all started around 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Chili's Restaurant in the 27000 block of Ynez Road, according to April Newman of the Riverside County Fire Department.

"Firefighters arrived on scene of a commercial building with no smoke or fire showing," Newman reported. "Upon further investigation firefighters located a malfunctioning carbon monoxide tank and isolated the leak."

She said it was a "nitrogen carbon dioxide" tank, which was "creating a hazard inside of the restaurant."

The building was subsequently evacuated and the restaurant was shut down while the Environmental Health department was called to the scene.

At this time, it's not clear how long the restaurant was closed, but it was back open and serving customers by Monday afternoon.

Dotti Ellis-Merki, Riverside County Environmental Health Department said the CO2 tank was used for the restaurant's beverage system.

"Our Hazmat E.R. team did respond," Ellis-Merki said. "There were no reported exposures from anyone inside the restaurant. The CO2 representative from Chili's was already there working on repairs when Hazmat got there. At this point, they are using a backup tank until a new one arrives. They were closed all night and they opened back up this am at their regular time."

Patch has reached out to Chili's corporate relations for more information and we'll update this story as more information is learned. Refresh for the latest.

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