Berkeley police and firefighters have asked anyone in the violet section of the map above to shelter in place or leave the area by 10:30 a.m. Credit: Gensys Protect
Police and firefighters have that asked that everyone within roughly four city blocks, including a school, shelter in place while emergency workers remove dangerous darkroom chemicals from a home in the 800 block of Colusa Avenue.
Police sent an electronic alert shortly after 9 a.m. Residents within a block of the intersection at Colusa and Tacoma avenues should shelter in place or leave the area and “should prepare to be out of the area or inside your home for at least the entire day,” according to a notice on the city’s website.
“You’ll need to decide whether you’ll be inside your home or out of the area no later than 10:30 a.m.,” the notice read. “You will not be able to come and go.”
Emergency workers will be removing “home photography lab chemicals that have become toxic, heat-sensitive and volatile,” according to the notice. Some older chemicals used in photo labs can be flammable or explosive.
The city has some accommodations to evacuees who needed somewhere to stay until the order is lifted.
The city said it would send updates, including a final “all clear” message, through the county’s AC Alert system.
“Once we get an all clear from our emergency crews, we will open this area to residents and others,” according to the city’s notice.
Editors’ note: This article was updated after publication with additional information.
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Alex N. Gecan joined Berkeleyside in 2023 as a senior reporter covering public safety. He has covered criminal justice, courts and breaking and local news for The Middletown Press, Stamford Advocate and…
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