springfield hazmat.JPG

Springfield Fire Department and the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Regional Hazmat Team responded to a hazardous materials event Saturday night and Sunday morning.

(Dennis Leger/ Springfield Fire Department)

SPRINGFIELD - A 20-year-old man committed suicide by immersing himself in a "cocktail of chemicals" sparking a major hazardous materials event that lasted more than five hours.

The victim pitched a tent in the backyard of Old Acre Road, climbed into some type of large bag and poured a variety of chemicals on his body, said Dennis G. Leger aide to fire commissioner Joseph Conant.

The man was found by a Milbrook Scholars student at the Children's Study Home, where he was staying, and started CPR. Firefighters arrived and continued CPR until they realized the chemicals were involved and called the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Regional Hazmat Team 2, Leger said.

The incident was first reported at about 11:35 p.m. on Saturday and the team did not clear the scene until about 5 a.m., Sunday, Leger said.

No one else was injured in the incident.



One of the chemicals used was muriatic acid. Hazmat officials are testing other chemicals used in the suicide, Leger said.