Salisbury Fire Department

Salisbury Fire Department Station 2 was alerted for a Haz Mat Incident, with patients affected by the incident, on a busy Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving located at the Dress Barn, next door to Target. AC1, (Scott), responded and requested a first alarm assignment for the haz mat incident. AC1 had Dress Barn Command. Upon investigation, employees stated there was water leaking from the carpet with some type of associated chemical spill from the common wall they share with Target. Both the Dress Barn and Target were evacuated and shut down until the substance could be identified. Haz Mat Techs made a recon entry into Dress Barn using full turn out gear and SCBA. It was determined the liquid had been mostly absorbed by the carpet of the store and was not off gassing. Samples were obtained for Haz Cat testing; it was concluded through the Haz Cat process the spill was mostly water with some sort of soap mixed in with it. A decision was made to determine the source of the product from the Dress Barn side, thus the wall was opened up between Target and Dress Barn, and it was found to be leaking from Target; specifically from a janitorial closet. Inside that, the drain pan for a water heater was full of water run-off which was not draining and spilling onto the wall. The employees of Dress Barn wished to be treated and transported, and were so by Paramedic 2. The determination was made that no further clean up or mediation was required; the Haz Mat Team concluded operations and cleared the scene. Later in the day an employee of Target admitted to having spilled cleaning fluid in the janitor’s closet and not telling anyone or cleaning it up, thus the cause of the incident. Units: AC1, DC1, E2, HM1, E16, PM1, PM16, PM2, Photo by: Billy Adkins