Town of Vail reports hazmat incident on Meadow Drive near Dobson Ice Arena

The Town of Vail recently issued the following press release on a hazmat incident on Meadow Drive near Dobson Ice Arena:

At approximately 4 p.m. on Sept. 13, Vail Fire & Emergency Services was called to the turnaround area just west of Dobson Ice Arena for a garbage truck on fire. When crews arrived, they found the driver had started to dump the load of trash in the turnaround in an attempt save the truck. As firefighters applied water, crews quickly realized it was reacting to the trash that was on fire. The situation was upgraded to a hazardous material incident and crews from Eagle River Fire Protection District brought the county hazmat vehicle to the scene.  

It was determined that an unknown number of 5-gallon buckets of granular chlorine had been improperly put into the trash. When the garbage truck operator went to compact the trash in the truck, it caused an exothermic reaction between the combustible materials and the buckets of chlorine and started the fire. A bystander noticed the flames and advised the driver.  

A portion of Meadow Drive was closed for approximately 6 hours. Two firefighters were taken to the emergency room due to inhaled fumes but have since been released and are back to work.  

A crew was called out to clean out nearby storm drains with a vacuum truck. However, it was determined that some of the chlorine-contaminated runoff made it into Gore Creek and Vail’s Sustainability Department noted at least 7 dead juvenile fish in close proximity to the outfall. Recently installed stormwater catchment devices, or gutter bins, prevented the incident from being more severe. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, Eagle River Water & Sanitation District and Colorado Parks & Wildlife were all notified. 

Clean up efforts continued into Saturday morning, and the Vail Police Department is investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Vail Police Department at 970-479-2201. 

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