Nine employees of a food production company in Lake Villa were transported to area hospitals after an ammonia gas leak at the company’s facility, authorities said Friday afternoon.
The leak was reported at 11:12 a.m. at the C & F Packing plant in the 500 block of Park Avenue. Leaking ammonia from a rooftop cooling unit entered the building’s air conditioning and ventilation system, said Lake Villa Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Andy Wienckowski.
None of the employees were experiencing life-threatening injuries, Wienckowski said.
The company’s maintenance workers did a great job of assessing the situation and evacuating the 125 employees before taking steps to expel the gas from the building, Wienckowski said.
Based on the initial number of nine employees complaining of respiratory distress, Lake Villa activated a mutual aid alarm that brought assistance from nine other area fire departments, Wienckowski said.
The employees who experienced breathing issues were transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Vista Medical Center – East in Waukegan and Lake Forest Hospital.
Employees were able to reenter the building after about an hour, Wienckowski said.
According to the company’s website, C & F Packing is a producer of sausage products, pizza toppings and other cooked meat items.
Company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
