Published: July 24, 2008 03:32 pm            

THURSDAY: Employee triggers dry chemical at BJs gas pumps (3:32 p.m.)

It looked like Christmas in July this afternoon at the BJ’s Wholesale Club on Young Street in the City of Tonawanda, where an alarm company employee accidentally released the dry chemical compound at the gas pumps, fire officials said.

Eleven people were evaluated at the scene, and none had to be transported to the hospital, Tonawanda Fire Chief Charles Stuart said.

City resident Tom Kiener was pumping gas when the incident happened. “All of a sudden, I heard the ‘beep’ of the system. I looked up and it was a white cloud, it was like an instant blizzard,” said Kiener, still covered in white powder.

Kiener’s 10-year-old daughter Victoria was in the car with the window rolled down slightly. He grabbed her out of the car and the two ran to try and escape the cloud but it spread so far they felt like they couldn’t get away from it. “You were choking, you couldn’t even talk, really,” Kiener said.

The dry chemical released is a cornstarch and baking soda compound that acts as an irritant but is non-toxic, Stuart said.

The initial report fire fighters received was that there was an explosion and white cloud, Stuart said. The “explosion,” he said, was the sound of the system releasing the dry chemical.

Fire fighters set up a decontamination unit for anyone who wanted to rinse the rest of the powder off of their clothes. The fire department also hosed down the gas pump area and several cars that were covered in the white stuff.

BJs offered to replace items that were damaged as a result of the incident.

For more on this story, see Friday’s Tonawanda News.

hosed down the gas pump lot and several cars that were still at the pumps

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.