1 dead, several ill after chemical accident at Buffalo Wild Wings in Massachusetts

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/1-dead-several-ill-after-chemical-accident-buffalo-wild-wings-n1078571?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

Authorities in Burlington declared a Tier 1 hazmat incident after a chemical mixture killed one worker and sickened 10 other people.

Buffalo Wild Wings employee dies after exposure to cleaning agent

NOV. 8, 2019 00:28
Nov. 7, 2019, 8:42 PM EST / Updated Nov. 7, 2019, 11:20 PM EST

By Doha Madani

One person was killed and 10 others were sickened in a chemical accident at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant Thursday in Burlington, Massachusetts, authorities said.

A restaurant employee was rushed to a hospital after being exposed to sodium hypochlorite, a powerful cleaning agent, and died shortly thereafter, Michael Patterson, assistant chief of the Burlington Fire Department, told reporters. The worker told firefighters that he was feeling nauseated after breathing in fumes.

"Anyone who was in the restaurant at the time and believes they may be impacted by the incident should seek medical treatment immediately," the fire department said in a statement.

The building was evacuated at about 6 p.m. for a Tier 1 hazmat incident, Patterson said.

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[irisblue]

1. Those poor people

🕯️

[zaj]

2. Geez... That's just bleach (had to look it up)

What could have lead to this?

Is like to know the details.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Just breathing in bleach vapors, using home cleaners, is a large contributor to COPD in later life.

[tblue37]

7. The bleach we use in our homes is just a 3%-8% solution. Stronger solutions can be

very dangerous, and even household bleach should be used in well ventilated areas, because the fumes are not to be breathed in.

[sir pball]

10. Super 8 is 8.25% hypochlorite

Same as the "concentrated" bleach you can find at the store. We use it at work as a general-purpose cleaner - it's definitely harsher than the regular stuff but certainly nothing that should cause mass casualties. I suspect there was ammonia involved, either unknowingly on the floor or the guy didn't know to not mix them.

[pnwest]

11. this. I'd bet the farm that bleach and

ammonia were accidentally mixed.

[Sherman A1]

3. WOW

Hope that this is fully investigated and those affected will receive the best treatment available.

[MagickMuffin]

4. Those Buffalo Wild Wings are having a bad week

Making AA move because some numbnutz didn't want them seated near him. And now this.

I can only surmise that Buffalo Wild Wings is a very toxic place to eat.

[safeinOhio]

5. Not not mix bleach and ammonia

When ammonia and bleach are mixed together, the bleach breaks down into hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid then reacts with the ammonia to produce chloramine vapours. These vapours are extremely toxic and can be fatal if inhaled.

[TheBlackAdder]

8. I was at my aunt's shore hotel, as a kid, and she was almost knocked unconscious by doing that.

.

This was back in the 70s.

.

[tblue37]

9. ?? Is there any info indicating that it was mixed with ammonia? A too strong solution would be

dangerous all by itself. Household bleach is just a 3%-8% sol.

[dalton99a]

12. The worker who died apparently was trying to squeegee "Super 8" off the floor

(CNN) A Buffalo Wild Wings employee died -- and 10 other people were sent to hospitals -- after they were exposed to a cleaning agent used on the kitchen floor of one of the chain's Boston-area restaurants Thursday evening, fire officials said.

The worker who died apparently was trying to squeegee the sanitizer off the floor after a coworker who started using it was overcome by fumes, Burlington interim Fire Chief Michael Patterson told reporters.

The incident at the restaurant in Burlington began around 5:30 p.m., with workers and customers -- some coughing -- streaming out of the facility as fumes spread, witnesses told CNN affiliate WCVB.

A worker, intending to clean the kitchen floor, put a sanitizer called "Super 8" -- a product with sodium hypochlorite, which itself is a main component of bleach -- on the floor, Patterson said. That person quickly was sickened, apparently by fumes, and went outside, he explained.

A second worker "attempted to squeegee the product out of the building when he was overcome," Patterson said.
Firefighters were called, and responders found the second employee suffering from nausea outside. An ambulance took that man to a hospital, where he died, Patterson said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/08/us/massachusetts-buffalo-wild-wings-worker-death-cleaning-agent-trnd/index.html

[sir pball]

13. Super 8 is identical to Clorox Concentrated

It's just a commercial brand, nothing that should require special handling. There's definitely more at play here than just the bleach, my money's on ammonia being involved somehow.

[Doremus]

14. I'll bet ammonia too.

An acquaintance of ours once tried to clear his basement drain by pouring bleach and then ammonia into it. He soon collapsed, was taken to the hospital by ems and died about a week later. Dangerous combination.

[Generic Other]

15. Ammonia and bleach don't mix

It can kill you.