Damaged Batteries Injure Three At Tampa Johns Hopkins Children's Clinic

Three employees were hospitalized after lithium-ion batteries began leaking hydrogen gas at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Ambulatory Care in Tampa.

Hillsborough County firefighters evacuated approximately 80 people from the building Thursday morning after the clinic reported an electrical odor, according to a news release. The smell came from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) area, which stored 30 lithium-ion batteries as a backup power source for MRI machines, said Rob Herrin, the information officer public with fire rescue.

Three employees experienced respiratory symptoms and were hospitalized, hospital officials said in a statement. Firefighters reported that they are in stable condition. The fire department screened 13 occupants for symptoms and did not disclose whether the remaining 10 had breathing problems.

The 30 batteries began to swell and “outgas,” officials said, meaning they began emitting hydrogen gas. Swollen batteries are damaged and can start an explosive fireaccording to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Hydrogen gas is highly flammable and explosive, Herrin said. Excessive concentrations of this increase the risk of fire.

Hazardous material technicians removed the battery rack from the building by late afternoon, according to firefighters. The batteries were placed in a substance that will neutralize them. Meanwhile, fans will vent the remaining hydrogen gas from the building.

Police cars and fire trucks swarm the outpatient clinic at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital on July 20. A hazardous materials situation at the clinic forced a full evacuation, and crews are still trying to get in to dismantle batteries leaking toxic hydrogen gas. [ CHLOE TROFATTER | Times ] [ Times ]

Hazardous materials technicians had to stop removing the batteries for several hours because they swelled in their storage area, leaving little room for hazardous materials technicians to enter, Herrin said.

“One of our first responders likened it to trying to change a car battery with the hood open about three inches,” he said. “These things [swelled] so that… there [was] there is no room for our hazmat technicians to disconnect and remove the batteries.”

Two of the 100-pound stacks broke. The rupture can be a good sign and a bad sign, meaning those two batteries have lost pressure and are no longer likely to cause an explosion, Herrin said. But if too many batteries had ruptured at once, the inflow of hydrogen gas could have triggered an explosive fire.

“If it’s more than two at once, we don’t know what that can do,” he said.

Pasco County firefighters and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad assisted the hazmat team at the scene, Herrin said.

The 52,000 sq.ft All children’s clinics at 2220 Bruce B Downs Blvd., offers diagnostic, preparation and recovery services for surgeries, MRI scans and rehabilitation such as physical and speech therapy. Clinic services were canceled Thursday and Friday.