

Chlorine fumes leaked into the steam tunnels under Caltech’s campus in Pasadena on Thursday morning, leading campus officials to close nine buildings and evacuate several people.

Officials received a complaint about 5:30 a.m. of a smell emanating from the west side of the campus, where 18 people from nine buildings were evacuated, said Caltech spokesman Jon Weiner. The buildings, including the one housing the offices of the U.S. Geological Survey, were closed for four hours, and two people were treated on scene for minor eye irritation, he said.

Fifty firefighters, including a hazardous materials crew, responded, said Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian.

The leak apparently involved chlorine tablets released into steam tunnels under the buildings for utility and piping, Weiner said. Caltech will conduct an investigation to determine exactly what happened, he said.

-- My-Thuan Tran

Photo: Fire crews remove the inflatable pools from a decontamination area set up on the campus of Caltech in Pasadena after firefighters from Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank responded to a report of a chemical leak in the underground tunnels. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times