SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Residents throughout North County reported smelling a robust chemical scent outdoors Friday afternoon, with many taking to social media to invest about its origin.
These as far north as Oceanside and as far south as Encinitas stated they started to come across the odor round 5 p.m. in a flurry of posts on Twitter and Reddit. Some described it as “poisonous” whereas others stated it had a sort of smoke-like stench.
Many speculated that the odor blanketing North County was linked with a fire at a San Diego Gas & Electric-operated battery storage facility in Escondido, however San Diego County Air Air pollution Management District officers stated in an announcement round 8:30 p.m. Friday that it was not associated.
“Our area inspectors are on-site and have documented odors resembling a mixture of plastic and asphalt/oil in sure areas however the odors dissipate shortly,” the district continued. “Because of the fleeting nature of the odors, we now have been unable to establish the supply at the moment.”
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An investigation stays ongoing into odor’s origin. Hazmat groups have been dispatched to the Interstate 5 hall the place the odor was reported for air sampling, Oceanside police stated in a publish on X round 6:20 p.m.
Environmental Safety Company officers, the U.S. Coast Guard, county well being and emergency companies, and native officers additionally coordinated in efforts to answer the stench reviews.
An incident page by means of the county’s emergency alert system, Alert San Diego, was launched round 6 p.m. to offer updates concerning the investigation into the stench. No additional particulars have been instantly obtainable.
Whereas the lithium-ion battery fireplace on the storage facility was dominated out as a contributor to the stench, robust fumes did affect a part of North County on Thursday, as a compulsory evacuation warning was put in place for surrounding space.
“That’s why we left, we couldn’t stand the odor of it,” one enterprise proprietor instructed FOX 5/KUSI on Friday concerning the Escondido fireplace.
This can be a creating story. Verify again for updates.
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