Title supplied by cataloger. 2,000 pounds of smoldering chemicals that were stored in large drums at a Grow Group Inc. plant, released a toxic cloud that blanketed a half-mile area in the City of Commerce, causing thousands of Southeast L.A. residents to evacuate their homes early Saturday morning. The chemical that leaked from the company, which produces chlorine tablets for swimming pools, is extremely irritating to the eyes, throat and mucus membranes, and could also pose more serious problems for people with chronic respiratory illnesses. The technical name for the white substance, which is available in crystalline powder, granule or pellet forms, is trichloro-triazine-trione. Sixty-eight people were treated for minor injuries, mainly respiratory problems, and two others remained hospitalized after complaining of chest pains. Thousands more were directed to a half-dozen emergency shelters for several hours while the contamination was brought under control. Photograph caption dated September 4, 1988 reads, "Firefighters wearing protective gear walk past containers of chemicals that were brought outside building after being neutralized."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;24 x 33 cm. on sheet 29 x 36 cm. Photographic prints
Fire fighters--California--Los Angeles County Hazardous substances--Accidents--California--Commerce Gases, Asphyxiating and poisonous--California--Commerce Buildings--Evacuation--California--Commerce Hazardous substances--California--Commerce Industrial facilities--California--Commerce Commerce (Calif.) Los Angeles Herald-Examiner photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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