Man Hurt in West Hartford Chemical Incident

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A man has suffered non-life threatening injuries Friday morning after a workplace accident involving chemicals at a Railroad Place address.

According to Greg H. Priest, West Hartford's fire chief and emergency management director, local dispatchers received word at about 9:45 a.m. of a reported explosion in a commercial space on that road.

"A chemical was reportedly involved with a worker suffering an injury as a result," wrote Priest in a statement Friday. "West Hartford Fire was immediately dispatched along with the West Hartford Police Department and American Medical Response."

Priest said the first fire unit arrived on scene four minutes after being dispatched.

He said a worker was found to be suffering from a non-life threatening injury while working a piece of equipment where a chemical was present.

According to West Hartford fire officials, there was no active fire, no other workers were involved and there was no apparent release of a chemical not traditionally present in the area.

Priest also said there was no danger to the public.

The incident was limited to the area surrounding the work space and the building remains occupied, he said.

Priest said the worker was treated at the scene before being transported to a local area hospital.

The cause of the incident and circumstances are under investigation by the West Hartford Fire Marshal’s office.

In addition, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was requested and responded to the scene, Priest said.