FIVE TREATED FOR EXPOSURE IN FIRE DRILL.Byline: - Ryan Oliver Five Ventura County firefighters were treated Thursday for exposure to potent tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. that seeped from the attic of an abandoned house being used in a training exercise. The firefighters were cutting into the Ojai-area house's roof when they hit a pocket of powerful gas left from a Sheriff's Department SWAT team exercise two weeks earlier. ``As soon as they made cuts to the roof they were experiencing stinging and burning eyes,'' said Ventura County Fire Department Not to be confused with Ventura Fire Department. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, and for six other cities within the county. spokeswoman Sandi Wells. Five firefighters were treated with an eye flush and given decontamination decontamination /de·con·tam·i·na·tion/ (de?kon-tam-i-na´shun) the freeing of a person or object of some contaminating substance, e.g., war gas, radioactive material, etc. de·con·tam·i·na·tion n. showers before returning to complete their shift, Wells said. The department also used fans to rid the house of any remaining gas. ``This is highly unusual, very much a freak accident,'' she said. ``Usually this chemical dissipates very quickly, but some of it was caught in pockets in the attic In the Attic can refer to:
CS gas is the more potent of tear gases used by police, producing an especially strong reaction. The roof-cutting exercise trains firefighters how to ventilate ventilate, v 1. to provide with fresh air. v 2. to provide the lungs with air from the atmosphere. v 3. to open, to free, as in to openly express one's feelings. a building of hot gases in an actual fire. The house on the 11000 block of Santa Ana Road was one of several donated to the county to conduct public safety exercises. |
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