On Friday, October 5, at 8:20 AM, 5 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 3 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Hazardous Materials Task Force, 1 EMS Battalion Captain and 1 Battalion Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 38 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Battalion Chief Richard Elder, responded to a Hazardous Materials Investigation at Berth 92 of the World Cruise Center at the Port of Los Angeles.
Firefighters arrived quickly to find as many as a dozen 5 gallon canisters containing Sodium Hydroxide in a truck cargo trailer destined for delivery at the site.
The caustic product leaking from a single container emitted no fumes, but did appear to be reacting with the floor of trailer. Firefighters cordoned off the immediate area and stabilized the scene, before Fire Department Hazardous Materials experts determined the situation to be non-escalating.
There were no injuries or formal evacuations required.
Following a thorough hazard assessment by the LAFD Hazardous Materials team and their routine decontamination, the scene was turned over to the cargo handling firm to mitigate the spill within the trailer under the guidance of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Health Hazardous Materials Division.