Kleinman quoted on blimp hangar fire
On November 7th, a fire broke out at one of Orange County's most historic structures, one of the "lighter than air" base hangars in Tustin. Built in WWII, the hangars housed blimps and other aircraft which patrolled the coast for Japanese submarines and ships. The fire triggered air quality alerts in the area due to toxic fumes and some neighborhoods were evacuated.
AirUCI faculty Michael Kleinma was quoted in an Orange County Register article on the blaze. Given when the largely wooden structure was built, Mike said there’s a very good chance arsenic was used to treat the wood and that lead was used in its paint. “As long as this thing smolders, it will continue to put out toxic material,” he said. “The plumes from something like this can travel for miles and those particles can get into nearby homes even when windows are closed.” Children and people with health conditions are most at risk from exposure, said Mike, but he advises anyone who can see or smell obvious exposure to stay with relatives or friends out of the area for a while if they can.
