Glenda Drive Chemical Incident

Emergency services are maintaining a cordon at the scene of a chemical incident at a commercial laundry in Glenda Drive, Frankton and say access is likely to be restricted for several hours until the building has been ventilated.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Andrew Bary from Queenstown said that laundry and neighbouring buildings had been evacuated. He confirmed that the chemicals had created chlorine gas.

“We expect to be here for some time,” he said. “The immediate safety risk has been contained and we are setting up a plan of attack to ventilate the building and make it safe for contractors to remove the chemicals.”

Fire, Police and St John responded to the incident in the industrial area this morning, and remain at the scene.

St John confirms one man was taken to Lakes District Hospital as a precaution, after two chemicals were inadvertently mixed at the laundry.

A Fire Service command vehicle is on its way from Invercargill, and appliances from Invercargill and Cromwell are providing extra cover in the Queenstown and Frankton areas.

Glenda Drive remains closed to traffic. Updates on any changes to the cordon and traffic will be posted on the Queenstown Lakes District Council website www.qldc.govt.nz, on Twitter @QueenstownLakes and Facebook

ENDS

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