Emergency services units prepare to investigate the Army Road gas leak. 82783 Picture: Russell Bennett
By Russell Bennett
PAKENHAM residents were evacuated from their homes early yesterday morning as potentially lethal ammonia gas seeped from a nearby Army Road cool store.
Residents on Emily Close, Timothy Close and Christopher Close were told to flee to a makeshift evacuation centre at the Pakenham Hall shortly after 7am.
Those who stayed in their houses were told to close their doors and windows to avoid inhaling any potentially toxic fumes, which had leaked from a damaged compressor inside the Superior Food Services factory.
But by midday locals were cleared to return to their homes as the dangerous gas had cleared.
A local man who was walking his dog along Army Road just before 7am noticed the strong ammonia smell coming from Superior Food, near Pakenham Hills Primary School.
He immediately felt nauseous and dialled triple-0 for an ambulance, alerting local fire and police units, which also flocked to the scene.
They blocked off Army Road at Kennedy Road and Leigh Drive while they examined the scene.
Pakenham Hills Primary was put in a state of “lockdown”.
Emily Close resident Karen Pearson drove to the evacuation centre.
She said she initially smelled the fumes the previous night when she was hanging out her washing.
“It was just incredible,” she said.
”It smelled like an animal had passed away.”
Ms Pearson said she and her fiancée suffered headaches since 7am. She said she had smelled the gas “on a couple of occasions” prior, over the past few months.
“Now that it’s out in the open, I hope the right people will investigate why this is happening,” she said.
“I am renting at the moment so if this keeps happening in the future I will definitely be looking for somewhere else to live.”
Timothy Close resident John Fromhold’s property backs on to Army Road.
“It was pretty alarming getting up in the morning to that smell,” he said.
“We called the police but they were already on to it.”
The 51-year-old was at home with his wife and 22-year-old son. They were all preparing to leave for work for the day when police knocked on the door and “strongly suggested” they leave.
But Mr Fromhold said he didn’t think he was in any danger, which was later confirmed by authorities.
CFA Region Eight Operations Officer Arthur Haynes oversaw the incident.
He said around 100 kilograms of ammonia leaked out of Superior food’s system and the initial concern was that it could drift down on to lower-lying properties as the gas was heavier than air.
But he dismissed fears that local residents would become sick from the leak.
“We’ve set up remote monitoring stations throughout the area,” he said.
”We’re only getting around four parts (of the gas) per million, whereas 25 parts is what you can actually work in all day.
“We’re well below the unsafe levels of it.”
Pakenham Hills principal Dale Hendrick said his school remained open and classes resumed as normal.
He said the school was initially in “lockdown” but everything was back to normal by 9.30am.
