Gasoline customers hit by more than tab as fire system goes off

A Boston firefighter hosed down customers on the Dedham-Boston line after a fire-retarding agent was released accidentally at a service station, blanketing the area and at least six vehicles. (George Rizer/globe staff)

For most overheated New Englanders, snow was the last thing on their mind yesterday. But a group of motorists at a Dedham gas station got a strong reminder of the white stuff when the station's fire extinguishing system accidentally went off.

"It looks like white powder, and it just smothers you," said Steve MacDonald, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. "The idea is that it comes down very quickly and forcefully."

The extinguishing system went off and blanketed the the King Petroleum gas station just after 1 p.m., he said. The station is on the border of Dedham and West Roxbury, so both the Boston and Dedham fire departments responded.

It was unclear yesterday why the extinguishing system activated, but it could have been a mechanical error, human error, or even the heat, MacDonald said.

"Could be the heat, that could have affected the link that keeps it in place," he said.

The extinguishing agent is based on baking soda and is not hazardous, but can be irritating for people with respiratory problems, MacDonald said. There were nine people and six vehicles at the station, he said. Six people were decontaminated at the scene, and three went to a hospital, MacDonald said. They were put in jumpsuits, so the powder did not spread inside the ambulance.

"Five cars and a van, they were just at the pumps, pumping gas, minding their own business," MacDonald said.

The six vehicles will have to stay at the station until they can be cleaned by a company specializing in hazardous materials decontamination, which could take some time, MacDonald said. Officials had no estimate for when the station will reopen.

A gas station employee, who said his name is Sam, was inside ringing up customers when the powdery substance fell.

"I saw a white roof coming down," he said. "The sound, even the sound, was terrible. It's so scary when you see something like that."

He said he shut down the gas pumps in case there was a fire and then looked outside again. "It was like we were in a winter land."

The powder drifted across the street to a home on Washington Street in Dedham, making the bushes in the front yard look frost-covered on the sweltering day.

"I was upstairs. I just looked out my window and said, 'Oh, my God, everything is white,' " said Mary Saulnier, who lives on the third floor. "Thank God it was a false alarm. Living so close to a gas station, it worries you."

Joey Hadayia - who said his father owns the neighboring car wash - was working collecting money at the car wash. "I heard a bang, a poof," he said.

Hadayia said he thought it could be white smoke, so he started running, afraid the station would explode. "It looked like a huge cloud," he said.

Hadayia said he tried to offer at least small comfort to those whose cars were stuck at the station. "I told them, I said, 'Listen, I'll give you a free car wash,' " he said.