SCVTV News
Workers Burned When Cleaning Solution Catches Fire at Bocchi Laboratories
November 30, 2011
©2011 SCVTV
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Two workers were hospitalized when a flash fire erupted Wednesday night at Bocchi Laboratories, a chemical plant across the street from the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center.
Bocchi is a contractor that mixes the chemicals that go into soaps and conditioners offered by hair care product manufacturers including neighbor Paul Mitchell Systems.
About 50 workers were in the parking lot when firefighters arrived.
"We got inside (the two-story building) and found that there was a flash fire of some sort prior to our arrival," said Capt. Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Two employees suffered serious burns. They were treated by paramedics and transported to a local hospital.
"They were doing some kind of a cleaning operation that caused this fire to start," Savage said.
"We had our Hazmat task force here (to) do a quick evaluation to make sure there was not any hazardous materials," he said. "There was no exposure to anyone and no threat of future exposure."
He said Bocchi does have some products "that would be considered hazardous materials, but that was not involved in this instance whatsoever."
Savage said the workers "might have been using a cleaning product to clean one of their pieces of equipment like they normally do" and "this cleaning product possibly flashed."
"Some cleaning products do have alcohol involved," he said. "That might have been it, but we’re still determining exactly what happened."
He said fire fighters are familiar with the products and materials used by local manufacturers.
"That’s what we do when we do walk-throughs and fire prevention, so we’re aware of the hazards going in," he said. "In this case, we knew what was on site, and we were happy to hear that none of those chemicals were involved."
