Two Glendale firefighters sustained minor injuries Thursday morning while responding to a fire in a residential garage that was used to store ammunition and hazardous materials, officials said.
The unknown nature of the chemicals, the explosions of fuel containers, and the fire setting off ammunition rounds at 6:21 a.m. in the 1100 block of North Isabel Street prompted authorities to evacuate six adjacent homes and six others on Jackson Street, Battalion Chief Vincent Rifino said.
Hazmat crews were called in along with Los Angeles County public health officials to clean up the controlled chemicals, for which the homeowner, a retired chemist, had a license to own, officials said.
The homeowner, Bob DeVoe, told fire crews he didn’t know what types of chemicals were inside his home or backyard because he had been collecting the substances for many years, Rifino said.
DeVoe was also a firearms enthusiast, Rifino added.
“We were dealing with an emergency of electrical with ammunitions, hazardous materials and flammable liquids,” he said.