Nearly 20 people were sickened in a Staten Island housing project yesterday after workers accidentally released a toxic chemical cloud while cleaning a sewage spill.
One worker was in critical condition and another 15 people less seriously hurt. They were taken to Richmond University Hospital to be treated for chemical exposure.
The mishap occurred just after 1:40 p.m. when the three workers, all wearing Hazmat gear, were attempting to disinfect a basement in the Richmond Terrace Houses in New Brighton with hydrated lime.
But the lime chemically reacted with the water on the floor, releasing corrosive fumes that quickly knocked two of the men unconscious. The third worker was semi-conscious and was able to stumble out of the basement, before collapsing nearby.
Firefighters from Engine 155 were first to arrive at the building at 81 Jersey Street.
Initially believing that they were responding to a standard EMS run for an unconscious person, the smoke eaters did not don their hazmat suits, the engine’s captain Brian Gorman said.
But when his team got to the basement and saw the men in protective gear, they realized the situation was dangerous.
“I said ‘let’s get them out of here,’ ” Gorman recalled.
The captain and his men dragged out the unconscious workers and gave them oxygen, after which they came to. “They were asking us to flush them with water because their skin was burning,” he said.
Five firefighters were treated for throat and chest irritation.
“They went above and beyond the call of duty,” Gorman said of the firefighters.