Leaking Freon Causes Smoke, Brief Closure At Wall Foodtown

A broken gasket on a compressor caused a Freon leak that led to a smoke condition that briefly closed the Foodtown on Route 35 Tuesday, Wall Township police reported.

Police and firefighters from the South Wall Fire Department were called to the Foodtown, at 2204 Route 35, shortly after 4 p.m. for a report smoke in the store, Wall Lt. Pete Lokerson said.

The store was already being evacuated when police and firefighters arrived, he said. Their investigation found a compressor in an upstairs motor room was leaking Freon 404A because of a broken gasket, he said. The room was ventilated and high level of Freon in the air was cleared by the Neptune Haz-Mat team and the South Wall Fire Department.

Technical representatives of Engineer and Refrigeration responded to the scene and were able to repair the compressor and fix the Freon leak, Lokerson said.

The Foodtown was reopened for business at 6:15 p.m., he said.

The following agencies responded and assisted with this incident: Wall Township OEM, South Wall Fire Department, Neptune OEM/Haz-Mat, Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management, Monmouth County Health Department, and the Wall Township EMS and Community First Aid, he said.