The Newbury Park fire station on West Hillcrest Drive was evacuated Thursday evening after a resident brought mercury into the building, officials said.
Capt. Ron Oatman, a spokesman for Ventura County Fire, said a resident had vacuumed up mercury after a spill at a storage facility and brought the vacuum bag to the station mistakenly believing firefighters could dispose of the toxic liquid metal.
The person came into the building, walked through and used the restroom to wash hands before firefighters realized what was in the bag, Oatman said.
The department's hazardous materials team and officials from Ventura County's Environmental Health Division were on scene to decontaminate and test the building.