Fire Extinguishing System Malfunctions at Gas Station in Stoughton, Releasing Chemical Agent

A gas station's fire extinguishing system apparently malfunctioned Wednesday morning in Stoughton, releasing a dry chemical agent on the property, according to Captain Jim Bertram of the Stoughton Fire Department.

The incident took place just before 10 a.m. on August 7 at Stoughton Gas/Hawies Market on Washington St., located in between Cheng Du and Dave and Vinny's Barber Shop, covering the ground and cars at the gas station (which also has a small market, sells cars and does auto repairs) in a white powdery looking substance.

Nozzles located on the canopy over the gas pumps let go and dumped the dry chemical (an extinguishing agent), creating a big cloud of white smoke, Bertram said.  

This is supposed to happen in the case of a fire at or near one of the gas pumps, but in this instance, it seems like an accidental discharge, according to Bertram.

At the time of the discharge, Bertram said there were four or five employees there, a waste company doing a pickup and a customer driving under the canopy, but there were no injuries, he said, although there was some initial panic when the chemical was dumped.

The white chemical substance was mostly contained to the property, with some spreading to the Cheng Du parking lot and Voses Ct., a side street which separates Stoughton Gas from Dave and Vinny's.

Bertram said there was no hazard to the environment, and that an industrial cleaning crew had been called to clean the area.