In brief
An anhydrous ammonia leak from a tanker truck parked behind a Holiday Inn in Weatherford, Oklahoma, caused significant health risks and led to evacuations of hundreds of residents. Emergency workers, donning gas masks, quickly responded, informing individuals to seek shelter. Around 30 people were hospitalized, including four in critical condition. The authorities confirmed that the leak was under control and air quality was being monitored. Cleanup efforts are expected to take several days.
A leaking tanker truck spewed dangerous gas in a hotel parking lot, forcing hundreds of residents in a small Oklahoma city to evacuate and sending several dozen people to the hospital, authorities said Thursday.
Officials lifted a shelter-in-place order Thursday morning, hours after emergency workers wearing gas masks went door-to-door in Weatherford, waking people up and telling them to leave because of fumes from the anhydrous ammonia leak.
Roughly 30 people were taken to a local hospital, said Police Chief Angelo Orefice. Some people were at other hospitals for further treatment, including four in critical condition, the chief said. Authorities and hospitals didn’t immediately return calls seeking more information about the number of patients or their conditions.
The tanker truck began billowing ammonia gas late Wednesday night, causing those in the immediate to suffer from respiratory distress, city officials said at a news conference.
At least 500 to 600 people went to a shelter early Thursday while others were ordered to remain inside their homes for several hours. Some nursing homes were evacuated, and schools were closed for the day.
“It was a little crazy to wake up to,” said Krystal Blackwell, who told KWTV-TV that she was evacuated by emergency workers in masks. “I really thought it was a kind of dream.”
The driver of the truck carrying the gas had parked behind a Holiday Inn to get a room there for the evening, Orefice said. The cause seemed to be a mechanical failure on a valve or a faulty seal, the police chief said.
Anhydrous ammonia is used as a farm fertilizer. The colorless gas has a pungent, suffocating odor and can be deadly, especially at high concentrations, or cause breathing problems and burns to the skin and eyes.
Just last week, an anhydrous ammonia leak caused by an explosion at a plant near Yazoo City, Mississippi, prompted evacuations.
The cleanup in Weatherford—a city of 12,000 people about 70 miles west of Oklahoma City—could take several days, the police chief said.
Authorities said the air quality was being monitored and that the tanker truck was no longer leaking. A number of agencies were assisting, including hazmat crews and the Oklahoma National Guard.
Industrial gas distributor Airgas said it was working with local authorities, urging people in Weatherford to follow instructions.
