Reddy Ice In Dalton Evacuated Following Ammonia Leak

An ammonia leak at Reddy Ice in Dalton forced the evacuation of several downtown buildings and businesses.

Firefighters shut off valves outside the building, then sent a small hazmat team inside. The two person crew isolated more valves, while other response team members guided them via remote video feed.

With the threat of ammonia in the air, emergency workers closed part of Hamilton Street for several hours. Bruce Frazier, Dalton's Public Relations Specialist, says "there wasn't much threat to the buildings around here, they just wanted to shut down the street as a precaution and did evacuate a nearby daycare as a precaution but because the leak is low volume they didn't expect it to cause much of a threat."

Firefighters vented the building before clearing people to go back inside.

Right now, investigators aren't sure how the leak started, but believe some equipment may be to blame.

No one was injured in the mishap.