800 bottles of hazardous chemicals removed from San Pablo home, evacuation orders lifted
800 bottles of hazardous chemicals removed from San Pablo home, evacuation orders lifted
Evacuation orders were lifted Friday in a San Pablo neighborhood days after the discovery of hundreds of dangerous and explosive chemicals found in a backyard shed. At least 600 chemicals were found in more than 800 bottles and containers behind a home on Stanton Avenue, fire officials said.
SAN PABLO, Calif. - Evacuation orders were lifted Friday in a San Pablo neighborhood days after the discovery of hundreds of dangerous and explosive chemicals found in a backyard shed.
At least 600 chemicals were found in more than 800 bottles and containers behind a home on Stanton Avenue, fire officials said.
"The found explosives, they found acids, they found oxidizers, they found flammable liquids," said Contra Costa County Fire Captain Chris Toler "We could have possibly had a catastrophic event in the middle of the neighborhood."
The stockpile of hazardous materials date back decades with some considered easily combustible, forcing neighbors from their homes for days. Bomb technicians said some of the chemicals were wrapped newspapers featuring stories from when Richard Nixon was president.
Investigators said the property belongs Mark Elson, 80, of San Pablo who died six months ago. They said he was possibly a chemist and science teacher, however, when and where he worked is not clear.
Toler told KTVU that his estranged brother discovered the chemicals early this week while cleaning out the home.
"There was a pretty strange relationship there," he said. "The gentleman hadn’t spoken to his brother in 60 years."
Neighbors said Elson kept to himself and was a hoarder prompting numerous calls to code enforcement for overgrown bushes, trees and trash.
"The front yard and stuff over there was so bad people had to walk out into the street to get around it," neighbor Emerson Harvey said.
San Pablo police confirmed Friday that the home at 925 Stanton Avenue had 18 citations for code violations since 2004.
But the dangerous and explosive chemicals were never found or reported until now.
"You had a bomb on your hands and you didn’t even know," said neighbor Maribel Suarez. "I got scared."
Once hazmat crews realized the volatility of the chemicals, evacuation orders were issued for about 500 residents within several blocks.
Neighbors living in the final five homes under mandatory evacuation were permitted to return home Friday afternoon.
It has taken days to process, identify and stabilize the hazardous materials, most of which were detonated Friday at the nearby hazardous waste facility in Richmond, bomb technicians said.
Late Friday evening San Pablo police posted to social media to say a series of loud bangs was heard. They explained the Walnut Creek Bomb Squad was completing those detonations at a "safe remote location" near Pittsburg Avenue in Richmond.
San Pablo hazmat detonation.
"It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that," said Toler. "For most of the technicians on scene this is a once in a lifetime type of event."
The home has since been closed off and surrounded by fencing so no one will tamper with the property where some bottles and boxes of less volatile chemicals remain.
Investigators said there is no plan to prosecute anyone for the roughly 1,000 boxes that Elson left behind.
Brooks Jarosz is an investigative reporter for KTVU. Email him at brooks.jarosz@fox.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter @BrooksKTVU