Employee injured after chemical accident at Tipp City Meijer Distribution Center

TIPP CITY — One person was hospitalized after a chemical accident at a Meijer Distribution Center in Tipp City.

Tipp City police and fire crews, Troy Fire Department and Miami County Hazardous Materials Response Team were called to 4200 South County Road 25A, where the Meijer Distribution Center sits, at around 6:20 a.m., Miami County Dispatch told News Center 7.

When crews arrived on scene they were told that an employee in the creamery building of the warehouse was cleaning when they had accidentally mixed an acid and a base creating a chemical reaction, according to Tipp City Chief of Emergency Services Cameron Haller.

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Haller explained that the cleaning system works by a base going through a line, which is then rinsed and then followed by an acid. For an unknown reason the rinse did not go through the line, so the acid and base were mixed creating a “non-habitable environment.”

Haller described the incident as “unintentional.”

The employee had inhalation injuries and was taken to the hospital, Haller said. He is in stable condition.

Troy fire crews helped evacuate the building out of precaution.

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Fire and hazmat crews, along with Meijer’s safety team worked to ventilate the impacted room and flush all lines.

Hazmat teams went into the room to make sure the room is free of harmful chemicals before letting employees back in.

The chemical reaction was isolated to the creamery and there is no hazard to the public or other parts of the building, according to Haller.

Last month, crews responded to a hazmat incident at this distribution center when a toilet bowel cleaner leaked followed by a bleach-based cleaner creating chlorine gas. Three people were injured.

We are working to learn the condition of the employee injured and what caused the cleaning equipment to malfunction.

Crews were on scene for around four hours.

We will update this story as we learn more.

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