On Thursday, December 4, at 2:59 AM, 6 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 5 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 2 EMS Battalion Captains, 2 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams and 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 52 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Battalion Chief David Frelinger, responded to a Hazardous Materials Investigation at 13356 Eldridge Avenue in Sylmar.
Firefighters arrived quickly on the campus of Los Angeles Mission College to reports of a sulfur-like smell in the vicinity of a 2nd floor Chemistry Lab at the southeast corner of the three-story Instructional Center.
Quickly securing a perimeter and upwind command post and staging locations, firefighters conferred with the on-site Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies who serve as campus law enforcement officers.
An overnight construction worker had first noted the smell - and possible haze in the vicinity, before notifying Sheriff’s Deputies who in turn summoned LAFD responders, including an LAFD Hazardous Materials Task Force.
With fire control personnel in place, an LAFD Hazmat team entered the Chemistry Lab to perform an environmental assessment. Using sophisticated handheld sensing equipment, they methodically examined the lab to find no evidence of an acute or escalating hazard.
The male construction worker who alerted authorities exhibited no illness, and no injuries were reported.
At the conclusion of LAFD operations, control of the scene was returned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Health Hazardous Materials Division, and campus officials.