Two firefighters suffered minor injuries this morning during a hazardous materials incident involving pool chemicals at a waste facility in Rancho Cordova.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters responded at 11:15 a.m. to a report of a fire involving hazardous materials in the 11000 block of White Road Road. They arrived to find smoke and fumes coming from a hazardous waste storage area on the site, according to a district news release.
Workers told firefighters that they were repacking dry pool chemicals in a 55-gallon drum and it appeared a chemical reaction occurred, causing a small fire and what they thought was off gassing of the material. Workers said they used a dry chemical fire extinguisher on the fire and thought they had slowed the chemical reaction. They left the area unharmed.
Firefighters were able to separate the material, which helped stop the spread and continued chemical reaction, officials said. The district's hazmat team arrived and entered the facility where they further reduced the remaining hazards.
The two injured firefighters were taken to a hospital for evaluation, and both were released for return to full duty.
The immediate area of the waste facility was temporarily evacuated. Thirty Sacramento Metro firefighters responded to the incident.
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