Incident Report


Andrew Freeborn
Incident Number
Incident tYPE
Incident Narrative
TEHACHAPI, Calif., Tuesday morning, alarms at the Revol Greens facility sounded after detecting an Anhydrous Ammonia leak. The chemical, used in the refrigeration systems of the 16-acre hydroponic lettuce grow, is a corrosive gas that if exposed to can cause death. Once alarms sounded personnel at the facility followed predeveloped emergency protocols to begin evacuations and accounting for all on site. When Kern County firefighters arrived, their patient assessments confirmed 21 of the 70 employees at the facility had been exposed. Two of the 21 exposed required treatment and were transported to a local area hospital. Firefighters with the KCFD HazMat team then donned fully incapsulated suits and completed multiple "Level A" entries. While tied into the Incident Command Post via live video feed, the entry team identified and stopped the leak. Once the leak was stopped operations were transferred to Kern County Environmental Health and Revol Greens to coordinate clean up.