West Eugene reaction stabilized after evacuation and street closure

Firefighters stabilized a chemical reaction at a west Eugene industrial facility after it overheated, produced smoke and released gases, Eugene Springfield Fire said. Employees evacuated the building, and police temporarily closed part of McKinley Street during the Oct. 22 response.

Fire crews were dispatched shortly before 10:45 a.m. to the 600 block of McKinley Street for a reported industrial fire. The department said the reaction occurred in batch-mixing equipment. It did not name the specific chemical product in its update.

Firefighters shifted from an industrial-fire response to a hazardous-materials response. They monitored the mixing vessel and building systems while the reaction continued. The department said the reaction took slightly more than an hour to stabilize.

Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported that police closed McKinley Street between Fifth Avenue and midblock. A battalion chief estimated to the publication that about 30 firefighters initially responded and about six workers were affected by the evacuation. Those figures were estimates; the worker count describes people affected by the evacuation, not a confirmed count of everyone at the facility.

Stabilization did not end the safety work i

Eugene Springfield Fire said monitored conditions were well below critical risk thresholds and reported no ongoing threat to the community or neighboring businesses in its Oct. 22 update. That was the department’s assessment at the time of the update. The reaction’s stabilization did not mean crews had finished their work.

Firefighters were ventilating the building and decontaminating personnel who had worked inside. The department said crews were also supporting facility staff as they worked to restore operations and would remain as needed to complete safety work. Lookout reported that a private hazardous-materials company was expected to conduct additional cleanup.

For nearby residents and businesses, the department’s update distinguished between the reaction being stabilized and the response being complete: ventilation, decontamination and other safety operations were still underway. Police had temporarily closed the street during the response.