By Denisse Salazar
The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Hazmat team could not discover source of odor in Federal Building.
A hazmat team was unable to identify what substance caused seven people to require medical attention Tuesday after they inhaled something at the Federal Building in downtown Santa Ana, a fire official said.
After nearly two hours of testing and sampling surfaces and monitoring the air, it was determined the building was safe, said Santa Ana Fire Department spokesman Chris Caswell.
“Cleaning chemicals, if combined, may have produced a momentary toxic vapor,” Caswell said. “There was nothing evident.”
Four people were sent to a hospital and three others required medical attention for symptoms including throat irritation and difficulty breathing, Caswell said.
Santa Ana firefighters were called shortly before 9 a.m. by federal police to the nine-story building at 34 Civic Center Plaza, Caswell said. The basement was evacuated and elevators were closed while the hazmat team tried to determine what the substance was.
The ventilation system in the building has been shut down, but employees were allowed to stay in the building.
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