Hazardous Materials Release 28200 Block of Diehl Road, Warrenville IL.

For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Andrew Dina
Fire Chief
Warrenville Fire Protection District
(630) 857-0298

Warrenville Fire Protection District Media Release
28200 Block of Diehl Road

WARRENVILLE, Ill. — At approximately 5:28 pm on Thursday, August 17, 2023, the DuPage Public Safety Communications Center (DUCOMM) received a 911 call from a caller reporting a chemical spill with inhalation injuries. A Warrenville Fire Protection District Engine, Ambulance, and Chief Officer were initially dispatched. Companies arrived on the scene at a large four-story multi-family residential complex within five minutes of the initial 911 call and were met at the front entrance by an employee reporting difficulty breathing. Paramedics began treating the patient while the engine company donned full protective clothing to enter the building to investigate and begin evacuating residents.

Based on the findings of first in fire companies and statements from the victims, the alarm was upgraded to a hazardous materials box alarm response bringing hazardous materials technicians from Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) Division 16 communities; Warrenville, Naperville, Lisle Woodridge, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, and Argonne National Laboratories as well as assistance from the Wheaton Fire Department and Warrenville Police.

Once hazardous materials crews were on scene, technician-level teams made entry into the structure to contain, neutralize, and remove the product from the building which was determined to be a mix of chlorine and muriatic acid that created a hazardous vapor cloud. Once the hazard was mitigated, the building was ventilated before residents were allowed to return to their units. In total, four people were treated and released by paramedics for non-life-threatening injuries.
No firefighters were injured as a result of this incident. The cause of the spill was determined to be accidental in nature.