Update: Haz-Mat Specialists Handle Acid Spill at Medical Office

Hazardous materials experts were called in Friday to handle an acid spill inside a Novato medical office that prompted the evacuation of one floor of a multistory building, a fire official said.

Three sedated patients who had just undergone surgical procedures at the North Bay Regional Surgery Center were temporarily quarantined away from the spill and towels were shoved in door thresholds to protect them from fumes, Deputy Fire Chief Eric Nickel said.

One person complained of a scratchy throat and was treated at the scene, he said.

An emergency call at 12:52 p.m. led the to believe one gallon of peracetic acid had been spilled inside a sterile room at 100 Rowland Way, Nickel said. The response was scaled back when it was revised to two ounces, but by mid-afternoon the specialists found the correct amount to be 15 ounces.

The acid is known as "a very strong corrosive and releases vapors, so that's why there was a full haz-mat response," Nickel said. The colorless liquid is a mixture of acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide.

A haz-mat team from the joint Marin County Fire Agency came up from Sausalito to put on protective suits and neutralize the acid with a bicarbonate, Nickel said. That took place at about 3:35 p.m., and a haz-mat cleanup company then prepared to remove the material from the building.

The acid is used to clean and sterilize medical instruments and regularly disposed in enclosed receptacles, Nickel said.

Novato Fire responded with three engines, a rescue and medical unit, a battalion chief as well as Nickel.