Firefighters, bomb squad respond to vehicle with noxious fumes in Bonita Springs

A Lee County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad went to a scene involving hazardous materials off US-41 in Bonita Springs Wednesday night, where Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District first responded during the late morning.

According to the fire district’s Facebook post, firefighters originally went to the scene at 11:45 a.m. to the plaza of a Rural King farm supply store off US-41 near the intersection with West Terry Street, where an accident happened inside a truck when roofing tar and muriatic acid combined to create noxious fumes that seeped into the receiving bay of the business.

Rural King managers and employees immediately evacuated the building and called 911.

Firefighters went to the scene and checked the building for toxic levels of acid with hazmat test strips and then wore their hazmat suits to mitigate the chemicals with absorbent.

Firefighters were on scene for several hours. There were no injuries, and Rural King reopened.

Bonita Fire District confirmed in an email, “When the company who was meant to move the truck where the incident occurred arrived, they felt uncomfortable moving that amount of Tannerite. They requested LCSO’s bomb squad to be on scene when it was moved. Firefighters are on scene to ensure safety.”

Close to 7:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office issued a traffic advisory related to the scene that has since ended, and the scene has been cleared.

There is no further information at this time.