One person has died and several are ill after a chemical accident at a #BuffaloWildWings restaurant in Burlington, Massachusetts on Thursday, authorities said.
BWW manager Ryan Baldera, 32, was rushed to the hospital after being exposed to sodium hypochlorite, a powerful cleaning agent, and died shortly after. Ten others fell ill from the chemicals, Michael Patterson, assistant chief of the Burlington Fire Department, told news outlets. “Anyone who was in the restaurant at the time and believes they may be impacted by the incident should seek medical treatment immediately,” the fire department said in a statement.
Patterson said the building was evacuated at around 6 p.m. for a Tier 1 hazmat incident. The 10 injured included two customers and eight other employees who were treated at hospitals, Patterson said. They were believed to have not been severely sickened, he said.
“What we believe happened is a worker at Buffalo Wild Wings used a cleaning agent on the floor. The cleaning agent is Super 8. The chemical definition or chemical identification is sodium hypochlorite,” Patterson said. “What sodium hypochlorite is a high concentration of chlorine.”
The fire department said there was no active threat to public safety and that the investigation was ongoing. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified, NBC News reports. BWW said it will be working with authorities on the incident. “We are shocked and saddened to learn of this horrific accident at our franchisee-owned sports bar and are working closely with our franchisee and the authorities while they conduct an investigation,” the company said.
