Westport firefighters responded to a call about a hydrochloric acid spill today at Coleytown Middle School on North Avenue.
Apparently a custodian was engaged in a cleaning operation in a bathroom area when the incident occurred, according to firefighters on the scene.
They evacuated the building and ventilated it to clear a smoke condition which had set off the building’s fire alarm.
No injuries were reported in the 7:29 a.m. incident.
Hydrochloric acid is commonly used in industrial cleaning solutions.
The fire department said later in a statement that the cause of the chemical cloud was probably a chemical reaction between a floor tile cleaner containing hydrochloric acid and a lavatory cleaner containing a mild phosphoric/sulfuric acid solution.
