Five children were transported to area hospitals after getting exposed to chlorine gas during swim lessons on Monday evening.
Just before 7:00 p.m. Monday Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded to Calypso Tampa on Bearss Avenue.
Fire officials said five children were transported to area hospitals to be treated for nausea and vomiting.
“We transported just to be safe,” Corey Dierdorff with Hillsborough County said.
Dierdorff said the chlorine gas that formed over the pool the children were swimming in was caused by a “freak accident.”
“The owner claims that weather came through earlier in the day caused one of the two breakers to trip so the water circulating pump stopped circulating water so that caused the chemical build up in the pipe,” Dierdorff said. “When everything kicked back on and that water started to circulate again, it caused those chemicals to have a chemical reaction releasing a small cloud of chemical gas.”
Approximately 2.5 gallons of chlorine caused the reaction. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chlorine gas poisoning causes a variety of symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, and in extreme cases fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema) that may be delayed for a few hours.
After Hazmat members of HIT 9 assisted in ventilating and testing the building it was determined that the pool chemicals were balanced and within safety. The building was then cleared of the chlorine smell and released back to the owners.
All of the children are expected to be okay. The owners of Calypso Tampa would not comment to ABC Action News about what happened.
