Fifteen employees were hospitalized early Sunday after an ammonia leak at a Birds Eye food plant in Darien, Racine Fire Chief Steve Hansen said.
About 140 people were working overnight at the factory on County Road X when alarms and sensors started going off.Seventy-five workers were checked at the scene and released, Hansen said. He had no immediate word on the condition of those who were taken to a nearby hospital.
New Jersey-based Pinnacle Foods, which owns Birds Eye, said in a statement that several employees were taken to the hospital. A company spokeswoman later said that all but three were released from the hospital by late Sunday evening. The three remained under observation.
Ammonia is used at the facility for the freezing and cooling of food. In gas form, ammonia can cause eyes to tear and lungs to spasm, Hansen explained. In liquid form, it creates an acid that can liquify skin.