HOLIDAY, Fla. — Pasco County Fire Rescue is on the scene of a hazmat situation and has evacuated some residents in the nearby area as they continue to monitor that situation.
Crews have blocked off an area in the 4000 block of Louis Ave. in Holiday.
PCFR said the chemical they are dealing with sodium hydrosulfite. Crews are using drone technology to hover above and get temperature readings of the 55-gallon barrel that they believe is between 3/4 and full.
“When that first arriving crew came on, they said the streets were kind of full of smoke. They knew something was up, so they made sure to put their protective gear on, and that’s when they went in and were able to confirm what this material is," said Corey Dierdorff, the Public Information Officer with Pasco County Fire Rescue.
Dierdorff says the chemical is reactive with water, so they're looking at bringing in some different hazmat materials to help neutralize it to where they can bring it away from the scene. Crews created a 500-foot safe zone that no one is going in or out of until they can figure out what the chemical is doing.
Fire Rescue said there was also about a two-block evacuation for a handful of residents who live nearby, but crews noted it is in more of an industrial area. Dierdorff says they would consider this a stable scene right now.
"There’s no huge danger to people around the area. There’s not going to be a huge toxic plume or anything like that, but we want to be very safe to make sure that there is no further reaction," said Dierdorff.
Crews are asking people to avoid the area.
