Employees were evacuated after an ammonia leak prompted the response of two dozen fire departments at a Kraft Heinz manufacturing plant in Woodstock Monday evening.
The Woodstock Fire/Rescue District responded around 9:21 p.m. Monday to Kraft Heinz’s Claussen Pickle Company at 1300 Claussen Drive in Woodstock for an activated trouble alarm.
Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Communication Specialist Alex Vucha said a trouble alarm activation indicates a malfunction or issue with the fire alarm system.
A single fire company response arrived on the scene within six minutes.
They were told by plant personnel of a possible anhydrous ammonia leak inside the building, Vucha said.
The call was upgraded and over a dozen employees were safely evacuated from the facility.
The alarm was upgraded through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) to the third alarm level for a hazardous materials team response.
Firefighters, HazMat technicians and other various resources responded from nearly two dozen agencies.
HazMat technicians were able to locate and mitigate the anhydrous ammonia leak at approximately 2:15 a.m., Vucha said.
High levels of residual ammonia inside the facility were ventilated using large fans.
The incident was isolated to a single room inside the facility.
No injuries were reported to firefighters, plant workers or any other people.
Vucha said fire crews remained on the scene for an additional hour before releasing the facility back over to management.