GARDEN GROVE : Bomb Squad Blasts Explosive Chemical
Sending a ball of flame 15 feet high, the Orange County sheriff’s bomb squad blew up an explosive chemical outside an industrial laminating factory Wednesday after its discovery forced the evacuation of 80 workers.
An employee of Laminating Company of America at 7311 Doig Drive discovered nearly a liter of the dangerous chemical in a freezer Wednesday morning. The substance--ethylene glycol dimethyl ether--apparently had been stored and allowed to crystallize after its use in a research project.
The crystallized form of the chemical is sensitive to movement and temperature changes and can explode.
Company officials called the Fire Department, which evacuated the building shortly after 11 a.m. and called in the bomb squad. After determining it was too dangerous to risk transporting to a disposal site, members of the squad detonated the chemical outside the factory about 2:15 p.m.
Company officials had no comment on the incident, other than to say that all workers had been sent home for the day.
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