Portland Fire Responds To Ammonia Leak At Widmer Brewing (Photo)
- 11/12/26
Portland Fire responds to ammonia leak at Widmer Brewing
At just before 3 PM, Portland Fire & Rescue was dispatched to an ammonia leak in the basement of the Widmer Brewing location in the Eliot Neighborhood of N. Portland. The original dispatch included the closest fire station and a chief officer was upgraded to a Hazardous Materials incident with the PF&R Hazmat Coordinator responding to the scene and the active on-duty Hazmat Team monitoring the call to direct actions if needed when it was discovered the chemical of concern was ammonia.
Ammonia is used in the refrigeration process in commercial brewing and can pose many hazards when a leak into the atmosphere occurs. Ammonia gas can be an irritant to the eyes and respiratory system at low levels and can be an asphyxiant in high concentrations. Ammonia can also pose a flammability risk at certain concentrations in the atmosphere.
Station 13 arrived to find all employees safely out of the structure and investigated the interior under the guidance of the Hazmat Team and the on-duty Deputy Chief, a former captain of the Hazmat Team. The crews discovered the basement to have low level concentrations of ammonia and were able to successfully close the large king valve that interrupted all flow of ammonia in the system and thus prevented any more ammonia from entering the atmosphere of the brewery basement. There were two independent ammonia gas monitors in the basement that displayed different concentrations of ammonia gas present based on their location with one reading very low levels of ammonia and the second monitor reading 0 PPM or no presence of ammonia gas. There is a built-in safety system associated with the in-house monitors that will activate roll-up doors to immediately close upon dangerous concentrations of ammonia present to limit high concentrations of gas exiting the structure and posing a threat to anyone in the area. The level of the ammonia present in the basement area never reached levels of concern to activate the automatic door system. The basement was actively ventilated of the trapped ammonia gas using the in-house exhaust system.
Crews that made entry into the area with trapped ammonia gas decontaminated their gear at the scene and returned into service to respond to their next emergency. All employees at the location are accounted for and no injuries were reported.
Portland Fire would like to acknowledge the appropriate actions taken and thank the staff of Widmer Brewing for their assistance in addressing this emergency response at their facility.
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Portland Fire Responds To Ammonia Leak At Widmer Brewing (Photo)
- 11/12/26
Portland Fire responds to ammonia leak at Widmer Brewing
At just before 3 PM, Portland Fire & Rescue was dispatched to an ammonia leak in the basement of the Widmer Brewing location in the Eliot Neighborhood of N. Portland. The original dispatch included the closest fire station and a chief officer was upgraded to a Hazardous Materials incident with the PF&R Hazmat Coordinator responding to the scene and the active on-duty Hazmat Team monitoring the call to direct actions if needed when it was discovered the chemical of concern was ammonia.
Ammonia is used in the refrigeration process in commercial brewing and can pose many hazards when a leak into the atmosphere occurs. Ammonia gas can be an irritant to the eyes and respiratory system at low levels and can be an asphyxiant in high concentrations. Ammonia can also pose a flammability risk at certain concentrations in the atmosphere.
Station 13 arrived to find all employees safely out of the structure and investigated the interior under the guidance of the Hazmat Team and the on-duty Deputy Chief, a former captain of the Hazmat Team. The crews discovered the basement to have low level concentrations of ammonia and were able to successfully close the large king valve that interrupted all flow of ammonia in the system and thus prevented any more ammonia from entering the atmosphere of the brewery basement. There were two independent ammonia gas monitors in the basement that displayed different concentrations of ammonia gas present based on their location with one reading very low levels of ammonia and the second monitor reading 0 PPM or no presence of ammonia gas. There is a built-in safety system associated with the in-house monitors that will activate roll-up doors to immediately close upon dangerous concentrations of ammonia present to limit high concentrations of gas exiting the structure and posing a threat to anyone in the area. The level of the ammonia present in the basement area never reached levels of concern to activate the automatic door system. The basement was actively ventilated of the trapped ammonia gas using the in-house exhaust system.
Crews that made entry into the area with trapped ammonia gas decontaminated their gear at the scene and returned into service to respond to their next emergency. All employees at the location are accounted for and no injuries were reported.
Portland Fire would like to acknowledge the appropriate actions taken and thank the staff of Widmer Brewing for their assistance in addressing this emergency response at their facility.
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