SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. — Multiple residences were evacuated and at least one minor injury was reported after an ammonia leak at a Simmons Foods plant in Siloam Springs.
The City of Siloam Springs said in a Facebook post on Oct. 10 that at around 4:30 a.m. the Siloam Springs Fire Department responded to Simmons to assist with a broken ammonia pipe that was leaking.
"The fire department responded with assistance from the Simmons hazmat team and were able to mitigate the leak, isolate the broken pipe and stop the leak," the post said.
Simmons told 5NEWS that the Simmons Prepared Foods facility in Siloam Springs reported the leak to the National Response Center at around 4 a.m., later containing the sources and shutting down the system in accordance with protocol.
As a result of the leak, a small number of homes in the area were evacuated, the city said. Simmons said that one team member reported minor skin irritation, and that care is now being provided.
The city later posted that the homes evacuated were safe to return to as the fire department had returned to service at around 7:30 a.m.
"The Fire Department and the Simmons hazmat team worked very well together to quickly isolate and stop the leak. Siloam fire department did not transport anyone to the hospital as a result of this incident," the city said in their post.
"Thank you to the Simmons hazmat team, in cooperation with the Siloam Springs Fire Department, who did an outstanding job managing the situation and safely evacuating team members and those nearby," Simmons added.
Simmons said that an investigation into the leak is underway.
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