By Joe Nelson
The San Bernardino County Sun
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A hazardous materials team spent nearly 24 hours on Sunday and Monday containing a sulfur leak at a company that manufactures clay pigeons for trapshooting, a San Bernardino fire engineer said.
A San Bernardino police officer notified firefighters about 2:21 p.m. Sunday after noticing a strong, rotten egg odor near the intersection of Tippecanoe and Cooley avenues. Responding firefighters determined the odor was coming from White Flyer Targets at 1454 S. Sunnyside Ave., said Mike Arvizo, a fire engineer for the San Bernardino Fire Department.
About 25 hazardous materials experts from the San Bernardino Fire Department, the San Bernardino County Fire Department and the San Manuel Fire Department responded, Arvizo said.
Further investigation determined a seal had breached on a large tank used to mix sulfur, limestone and pitch. The tank is located behind the manufacturing plant with several other large industrial tanks, Arvizo said.
“We were treating this as a large hazardous materials incident because of the large amount of sulfur involved,” Arvizo said.
The tank caught fire around 7:20 p.m., and molten sulfur spewed from the tank onto the ground, Arvizo said.
“Due to the possibility of explosion, we attempted to extinguish the fire rapidly, which we did,” Arvizo said. He said the fire was extinguished around 8 p.m.
But firefighters stayed on scene until roughly 1 p.m. Monday, monitoring the situation until the tank cooled, Arvizo said.
The San Bernardino Fire Marshal is expected to inspect the tank Tuesday, Arvizo said.
No injuries were reported.
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