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NewsScottish NewsCare home evacuated after fridge leak

Care home evacuated after fridge leak

Fridge leak caused care home to be evacuated

FIVE care workers needed medical treatment after they were overcome by fumes from a fridge.

Staff at the residential home in Edinburgh noticed the fridge was leaking shortly after 4am today.

But as they battled to clean up the mess they were overcome by powerful ammonia fumes.

Two of the casualties needed hospital treatment and a further three were treated at the scene for breathing difficulties.

Seven elderly residents at Clermiston House, in the city’s Parkgrove Terrace, also had to be evacuated as firefighters dealt with the leak.

Lothian and Borders fire brigade sent seven fire engines to the scene.

Once the building had been ventilated, residents were allowed back into the building at approximately 5.30am.

The manager of the residential home, who declined to give her name, insisted that “everything was OK”.

But at 10 o’clock, 40-50 multicoloured armchairs were seen sitting outside the front of the building.

Clermiston House is a 42-resident home operated by Edinburgh city council.

Ammonia gas is used in some fridges to absorb heat.

Exposure to the gas can lead to coma.

In 2008, Treetops nursing home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, had to be evacuated due to a fridge ammonia leak, though none of its residents were injured .

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