Cause of ammonia leak at Sanger plant identified

SANGER – A fan failure in a refrigeration unit at the Pitman Farms Sanger processing plant led to the Sanger Fire Department ordering an emergency shelter-in-place.

At 3 a.m. on Nov. 4, the Sanger Fire Department received an alert that there was a potentially hazardous ammonia incident at the Pitman Farms facility at 1489 K Street. By the time Sanger Fire arrived, Pitman employees had already been evacuated. A Fresno Fire Department hazardous materials team was called to assist with mitigation efforts.

Because of the pervasive smell of ammonia, Sanger Fire recommended protecting homes on Almond Avenue south of Cherry Avenue along K Street. Advice was also provided to Blossom Trails Preschool and Jefferson School.

Sanger Fire conducted aerial surveillance in the immediate area. According to authorities, there was no danger to the public at any time during the incident. The shelter-in-place notification was issued out of an abundance of precautionary measures.

While firefighters continued to monitor air quality, investigators determined the cause of the incident was a fan failure in a cooling unit in a freezer. This released ammonia into the atmosphere. After firefighters fixed the problem, they turned the cleanup over to Pitman Farms.

In addition to Sanger Fire, Sanger Police, representatives from the Sanger Public Works Department, Fresno County Environmental Health, Cal-OSHA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Resource Compliance and the Sequoia Safety Council were involved in the operation.