At around 8 am on Saturday October 29th, residents in a San Jacinto neighborhood were awakened by a helicopter telling people in the area that there was a hazmat situation in the area. The situation was caused by pool chemicals leaking, and residents were ordered to evacuate immediately and take refuge at San Jacinto High. 

At 2:21 AM Saturday morning, a strong chemical smell was reported in the 800 block of Shaver Street in San Jacinto. At the scene, firefighters located pool chemicals leaking in a large storage container and a fire that was inside the container. The hazmat and cleanup crew were immediately sent to the scene. All homes east of Hewitt Street, South of 7th Avenue, North of Shaver Street, and West of Camino Los Banos were ordered to evacuate, before later ordering homes South of Main Street, West of San Jacinto Avenue, North of East Esplanade, and East of Ramona Expressway to evacuate as well. 

According to witnesses, this was not the first incident to occur at the property that had leaking pool chemicals. The same neighborhood witnesses explained that there was a fire caused by pool chemicals that burned the same house’s garage down just a couple of months ago. Some neighbors were left wondering if the residents of the property that had the leaking chemicals would be held accountable for their negligence, as this was not the first time this year that their mishandling of pool chemicals inconvenienced nearby residents. 

Luckily, the evacuations only lasted a day and all residents who were ordered to evacuate were able to return home on Sunday afternoon. Cal Fire gave residents the all clear, but they suggested proceeding with caution.