A provincial hazmat team from the Office of the Fire Marshal was sent to Brockville, Ont., to maintain a “hazardous materials incident” at the local 3M research facility.
According to a tweet from the fire marshal, their emergency preparedness response unit and Ottawa firefighters were deployed to assist Brockville firefighters with the incident.
Brockville fire said they closed Waltham Road between Crocker Crescent and California Avenue due to the incident on California Avenue.
Brockville fire Chief Dave Lazenby said the building was evacuated Wednesday morning after some workers smelled something odd.
As of Wednesday evening, Chief Tim Andrews, with Ottawa Fire Services, says the hazmat team is still trying to determine what product is leaking at the research facility. Lazenby said the area where the leak occurred contains several different types of chemicals.
Lazenby said a firefighter was transported to hospital with minor respiratory issues and a 3M employee was also sent to hospital for “precautionary treatment.”
Ottawa firefighters were called in Brockville firefighters “don’t have the expertise for hazmat incidents,” Lazenby said.
This product leak comes two months after 3M Brockville penned a deal with the federal government to produce 50 million N95 masks a year as part of a five-year, $70-million contract.