Crews respond to hazmat situation at VA Medical Center

WEST PHILADELPHIA - Crews are responded to a hazmat situation happening at the VA Medical Center early Sunday evening.

According to police, a chemical called ethylene oxide, used to sterilize equipment, spilled in the basement.

Police say sensors detected the leak, setting off an automatic exhaust system that vented the room.

By the time hazmat responded, their sensors didn't detect any chemical thanks to the exhaust system.

On Sunday evening, the VA Medical Center issued the following statement on the incident:

"On Sunday, April 30, an Ethylene Oxide (ETO) detection alarm activated in the Sterile Processing Service (SPS) area of the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center at 5:00 p.m. ETO has not been in use at the facility since October 2016. The alarm was a false alarm, and we are investigating what triggered it. There was never any danger of a health risk to patients, staff or visitors to the facility. Staff in the SPS area was evacuated as a safety precaution."

The initial report came in around 5:10 p.m. for the scene on the 3900 block of Woodland Avenue.

No patients were in the basement at the time, only workers. No injuries were reported.

The workers in the basement have been evacuated to another part of the building.