Southern California Edison (SCE) confirms the evacuation Monday morning
of about 300 employees at its Long Beach Call Center after a strong odor
was detected in the building.
Six employees have been taken to area hospitals and 20 others are being
treated on scene for symptoms, including nausea and headaches.
The cause of the odor is not yet known. The remaining employees were
evacuated to a parking lot staging area.
The fire department has sent a hazmat crew into the building to assess
the situation and do an air analysis.
Customer service calls from the center are being re-routed to other SCE
service centers.
Safety is a top priority for SCE, which is working with the fire
department, police and paramedics at the scene.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison
is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population
of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a
50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern
California.
Copyright Business Wire 2013