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Show - V ; - . ' h? . ",- ' I "'- r i , ' I ? JCOB-Ht. t S - mi . s - i . ' J . .' - ' I . . It' I I . - HAZMAT team members and Sheriff's deputies responded to a call for help from Panguitch resident Deanna John Unkown Substance Burns, Incites Fear : On Wednesday, Sept. 22, my sister Laurie and I (Deanna Johnson) were doing household yard cleanup after purchasing a piece of land with an extreme fixer-upper home. As we loaded Laurie's trailer with debris from the yard, we found a black, plastic plas-tic unlabeled gallon bottle that was cracked at the top. Laurie picked up the bottle, assuming it was motor oil, I grabbed some trash and as we were dumping the debris, the bottle Laurie was carrying split open, splattering her shirt, pants and shoes and my pants. Immediately, screams of terror ter-ror came from Laurie whose clothing was being eaten by the substance and her skin began burning. I ordered her to follow me and we ran inside for the bathtub as she was crying, "It burns!" She threw off her heavy outer shirt while running. Luckily, her undershirt was spared and her upper body was not burned. As we ran to the bathroom, she shed her shoes, socks and sweatpants. The liquid liq-uid had dyed her clothing black so her skin looked black and was burning. As the shower was running for Laurie, I shed my own Levi's and realized they had protected me so that my skin was not so badly affected. But, a hole appeared in the bathroom bath-room rug under Laurie's shoes. We were terrified of what the liquid could be. . The previous owner was a prospector for gold and had left the unlabeled bottle on the back porch. Laurie got the burning to subside and I had small areas of burned skin on my arm and leg. We wondered how the previous owner could assume we would know how to properly dispose of the chemical. I called the Sheriff's office to report the spill and have them contact the fire department for help to properly dispose of the mystery chemical. The Sheriff arrived and Laurie and I proceeded pro-ceeded to the hospital to have son. She and her sister Laurie were burned by liquid spilled from unlabeled container as they were cleaning yard. t . 1 - ' r , I " r -" i: . .., ' I I - V' t - ' t ,- I ' v t ' ' ' 1 i -. . t. . v , . f ;1 ; , ..... J, Neighbor Brent Worthen, owner of WW Wrecking and Repair, helps with final cleanup at Johnson residence following HAZMAT incident. our wounds cared for. Our biggest fear was necrosis of the skin that the chemical might continue eating the skin and kill the nerve endings and result in death of the tissues. Poison control had been contacted con-tacted prior to our trip to the hospital and we had explained that we had found three jars labeled "Nitric Acid 70". Poison Control said we did the correct thing by soaking the burned areas with water and soap. They acknowledged our fears of continued burning since we didn't know the contents of the fourth bottle, the unlabeled one that had spilled. At the clinic, clin-ic, the doctor assessed the burns and concluded there was no further fur-ther danger and that we should treat the burns as a severe sunburn sun-burn with sterile bandaging. We were released and returned to our newly acquired property to see if the substance had been identified and if there was an estimated cost for cleanup and whether our utility trailer, also damaged, could be salvaged. Our anxiety and fear continued. When we arrived, a HAZMAT HAZ-MAT team from Tropic was on hand, suited up in what looked like nuclear disaster suits with oxygen and all. We were asked if there more bottles of the liquid, liq-uid, but we didn't think so. So the question remained: what was the liquid that ate our clothing, cloth-ing, our skin, and the paint off the trailer? Calls were made and chemical books consulted. Deputies Danny Perkins and Clint Pollock asked more questions ques-tions and made more phone calls. Finally, a neighbor who knew the previous owner's new phone number was able to provide it to the officers. When contacted, he told them the substance was sulfuric acid. Now the HAZMAT HAZ-MAT team could effectively neutralize the chemical. Previous pH testing by HAZMAT HAZ-MAT had revealed that the sub stance was extremely acidic, but now they knew specifics. Fire hoses were laid on the ground, a trench dug and yellow tape had been strung around the trailer to protect the area from further entry and potential future accidents. As the mystery unfolded a friend, Brent Worthen, who owns WW Wrecking and Repair, stopped by. He began cleanup of the spill assuring that even the soil was properly neutralized. neu-tralized. Fortunately, the trailer was not a casualty, except for visible evidence on its exterior. Everyone learned that all bottles bot-tles should be labeled and serious seri-ous precautions taken for the safety of anyone who might handle them. Thank you to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office and the particular officers who responded respond-ed to our cries for help. I hope our communities will support our local volunteer fire departments depart-ments , and the Tropic HAZMAT HAZ-MAT team to help them acquire and maintain necessary neutralizing neutral-izing agents. Many thanks to the Panguitch Fire Department and HAZMAT members who also responded. Thanks go also to the Poison Control Center operator and the staff at the Panguitch clinic for being there in our time of need. And a special spe-cial thanks to my neighbor and friend Brent Worthen for his helpful knowledge and skills. For Laurie and me, it was a scary encounter with flesh-eating acid Anyone with unlabeled materials mate-rials which could be potentially dangerous, should label them and keep them in a safe place. Anyone with containers of unknown substances should contact their local fire department depart-ment or call the Garfield County Sheriff's Office for help in identifying iden-tifying them, or call a private cleanup specialist. Deanna Johnson Panguitch (See accompanying photos) |