Photo: FLLewis/Media City G — Costco store 1051 West Burbank Blvd. Burbank July 21, 2014
Burbank’s Costco is back in business today after shutting down yesterday afternoon due to a hazmat incident. Shortly after 4 p.m. yesterday a refrigerant line apparently ruptured. “The 911 call reported a possible Freon leak after a loud bang. Any report of a gas or chemical involved in an incident initiates a Hazardous Materials response,” said Captain Peter Hendrickson, Burbank Fire spokesman, in an email.
The giant membership warehouse store at 1051 West Burbank Boulevard was evacuated. KTLA sent out this tweet about the situation:
“Everybody started running…it was chaos,”Costco shopper says of evacuation after “big bang” http://t.co/TCaO3vjFK0 pic.twitter.com/WUbn3YAMeX
— KTLA (@KTLA) August 14, 2015
Captain Hendrickson says the Burbank Fire Battalion Chief “was just driving by Costco at the time” and “assisted with the evacuation.” Several units rolled to the scene including, a rescue ambulance, HazMat companies from Burbank and Glendale Fire as well as Los Angeles County. “We sent HazMat firefighters in to evaluate the atmosphere and confirm that the leak was a refrigerant. We then shut down the refrigeration units to stop the flow of refrigerant and ventilated the structure, “according to Hendrickson.
Repairs were made overnight, allowing Costco to reopen its doors today. No one was injured and no word yet on the cost of those repairs.
