A small chemical spill created a traffic inconvenience at one of Putnam County’s busier intersections on Monday.
“Nobody was in danger; it was a traffic inconvenience for probably 30 minutes while we cleaned it up, and after that, everything returned to normal,” Putnam County Fire Chief Thomas McClain said.
Someone called 911 around 1 p.m. and said there was a cardboard box emitting smoke in the roadway at the intersection of State Route 44 and Old Phoenix Road. McClain said the smoking box was in the turn lane that’s used by Hwy. 44 northbound motorists to turn right onto Old Phoenix Road.
The box contained a 1- to 2-gallon jug of muriatic acid, a chemical used to clean mildew from concrete, brick walls, or swimming pools.
“Obviously, it fell out of someone’s truck and busted when it hit the pavement,” McClain said. “You wouldn’t want it splashing on your car. So we took measures to neutralize it, dilute it, and get it up. And about 2:00 (p.m.), you couldn’t even tell we had been there.”