The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cooling system failure injures 4
A malfunctioning line in a cooling system inside Aldi in Willowick March 29 sent three people to the hospital and caused symptoms in a fourth, a Willowick fire official said.
Willowick Fire Department Lt. Tom Henry said the department was alerted about 9:06 a.m. about a chemical spill.
The initial crews arrived on scene, 30960 Lake Shore Blvd., at 9:09, after which three patients experiencing respiratory distress were treated and transported to Lake Health’s West Medical Center in Willoughby. A fourth was treated and released at the scene, Henry said.
Because of health privacy laws, Henry said he couldn’t comment on any specific symptoms these people were experiencing. He said generally speaking, the chemical in question — Freon No. 407A — can cause dizziness, headaches, chest pain and, in larger amounts, cardiacrelated symptoms.
The amount released at Aldi on March 29, however, was small, he said.
“It was actually a very small amount of the product,” he said, adding that it was about 4 pounds. “Think of a regular, household refrigerator. That would have a couple of pounds in it. Or, if you think about a small, pancake air compressor. The quantity (of Freon involved at Aldi) was actually smaller than that.”
Henry said an investigation revealed a copper line carrying the Freon failed, causing the release.
“It was found to be one of the cooling units for an office area. It had a ruptured Freon line, and that’s what released it into the store,” he said.
He explained the chemical is stored as a liquid and, when released into the atmosphere, takes on a gaseous state.
There was no negligence involved, as the incident was because of the failure of a piece of copper tubing, and a repair service was expected to have the line replaced and the store to reopen later March 29, Henry confirmed.
Public safety crews cleared the scene by about 10:39 a.m., according to the related incident report.
Henry said Willowick crews received mutual aid at Aldi from the Eastlake, Mentor, Mentor-onthe-Lake, Wickliffe, Willoughby and Willoughby Hills fire departments.