Lihium-Ion battery bank started offgassing in hospital: 80 people evacuated due to toxic fumes

A children´s hospital in Tampa, Florida had to be evacuated because of toxic, and potentially explosive gas, being released from about 30 lithium-ion batteries in the building.

BayNews9.com reported on July 20 on the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue being called out Thursday to a hazmat incident at Johns Hopkins All Children's Outpatient Center. 

Officials said 80 people were evacuated from the building. Fire rescue crews transported three people from the scene and evaluated 10 other people. There were no injuries to first responders.

Initial calls were for an electrical smell coming from the MRI area of the facility. 

Fire crews determined that a power bank of lithium-ion batteries was off-gassing and called for hazmat technicians. 

HazMat crews determined that 30 lithium-ion batteries, approximately 100 pounds each, had swollen and two had also ruptured and were releasing gas.

Information Chief Rob Herron said in a tweet: “We had high levels of hydrogen gas, it can be explosive once we determined that we now moved this from a threat of hazardous gas that could be inhalation inherited to a potential explosive we moved people further away from the scene".