SANGER – A fan failure in a cooling unit at the Pitman Farms Sanger processing plant prompted a shelter in place order from the Sanger Fire Department.
On Nov. 4 at 3 a.m., the Sanger Fire Department received an alert that a potential hazardous incident involving ammonia had occurred at the Pitman Farms facility at 1489 K Street. When Sanger Fire arrived, Pitman employees had already been evacuated. A hazardous materials team from the Fresno Fire Department was called out to help with mitigation efforts.
Because of the pervasive smell of ammonia, Sanger Fire issued a shelter in place advisement to homes located on Almond Avenue south to Cherry Avenue along K Street. The advisement also went out to the Blossom Trails Preschool and Jefferson School.
Sanger Fire performed air monitoring in the immediate areas. According to authorities, at no time during the incident was the public in danger. The shelter in place advisement was issued out of an abundance of precaution.
As fire personnel continued to monitor the air quality, investigators determined that the cause of the incident was a fan failure in a cooling unit in a freezer. This resulted in the ammonia being released into the atmosphere. After fire personnel mitigated the problem, they turned over the cleanup operation to Pitman Farms.
In addition to Sanger Fire, Sanger Police, representatives from the Sanger Public Works Department, Fresno County Environmental Health, Cal-OSHA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Resource Compliance and the Sequoia Safety Council were involved in the operation.
