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Hawker Beechcraft evacuated after chemical spill

5:41 PM, Dec 15, 2010   |    comments
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Hawker Beechcraft is letting employees back into the building after a 55-gallon drum ruptures, spilling some chemicals and releasing chemicals into the air.

It happened around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Little Rock Fire Department says a woman was in a room of the building where cabinets are installed into aircrafts when she heard a popping and crackling sound coming from a fire-proof cabinet. As she was trying to leave the room, one of the 55-gallon drums ruptured. She was taken by MEMS to a local hospital after feeling nausea and a burning sensation in her nose.

The cabinet was warped and chemicals spilled onto the floor with chemical vapors being released into the air. HAZ-MAT was called to the scene and they turned on vents in the room to help evacuate the vapor.

The room is now taped off and HAZ-MAT will continue testing until the room is safe to let employees back in.

Then a private company will come in and take care of clean-up.