CHP Evauates Vallejo Office Because of Hazmat Incident

[Guest guest]

Here's a bit of media news, copied and posted here for y'all:

Dateline: Sat Dec 30 16:25:33 PST 2000

BCN21 -EMERGENCY CALLS DIVERTED VALLEJO (BCN)

The California Highway Patrols reports it had to a evacuate its

communications center in Vallejo today due to a chemical odor that has sent

five employees to hospitals for medical attention. The ground floor of the

Golden Gate Communications Center in Vallejo, where employees answer and

dispatch all emergency 911 calls in the Bay area, is closed until it is

deemed safe, but CHP spokesman Mitch Mueller says an emergency plan is

already in effect and the incident is not disrupting 911 services. Mueller

says all land line and cellular 911 calls are currently being answered by

the Sacramento and Monterey divisions of the California Highway Patrol. The

calls are then being routed to the CHP office in various Bay area cities.

Mueller said the Vallejo office was officially evacuated at 12:30 p.m.

today. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, as well as CHP

environmental crimes investigators, the Vallejo Fire Department, and Napa

Valley and California Department of Forestry hazmat crews are at the scene

trying to determine where the chemical smell is coming from.

CHP employees first reported smelling the chemical on Wednesday morning,

with complaints of runny noses, headaches, red eyes and respiratory

problems. At that time, Mueller said, hazmat officials were called to the

scene and the area was declared safe. Employees complained of the smell

again on Friday morning. That time, Mueller said, one employee with asthma

was transported to the hospital to be treated for respiratory problems. At

3:30 a.m. today the employee again reported the strange scent, apparently

much stronger than in previous days. Mueller said that by 6 a.m., four

employees were transported to local hospitals. He said the office will not

be reopened until experts deem it safe. Mueller said the smell could

possibly be the product of petroleum and chemical plants in the area. The

20,000 square-foot facility holds approximately 150 employees on the ground

floor on any given day and up to 250 employees on days when it is occupied

by both dispatchers and administrative workers.

The facility is located across the street from an elementary school, which

is not currently in session, Mueller said, and is also surrounded by

miscellaneous other businesses.

<end of media release>

A bit more information I can share with y'all is that both Sac Comm and my

Comm Center have resource books provided by GGCC (for just such events),

such as lists of services and agencies with contact numbers and a marked

Guide for the areas we're expected to handle for them. GGCC

dispatchers were deployed to the CHP Area Offices to dispatch units from

the base stations, and we relayed the call information back to those

locations (and the allied agencies that should get " their " wireless 9-1-1

calls).

Certain geographic portions of GGCC's entire coverage area were to be

handled by us, and the rest by Sac Comm. GGCC handles nine Bay Area

Counties. My Comm Center abuts two of those counties.

That's the plan. It's probably no surprise to anyone that reality often

doesn't follow " the plan. "

We're hoping they can get back into their Comm Center fairly soon, of

course, with all problems solved and health & safety issues rectified.

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

Olmstead

Communications Supervisor

~on the Central California coastline~

" Not presumed to be an official statement of my employing agency. "

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