Fumes Force Evacuation

A powerful pesticide being used in a strawberry field outside Fallbrook leaked out through a ripped tarp early Wednesday morning, forcing the evacuation of about 200 people for more than six hours.

Coyotes had apparently torn the material, and nearby residents smelled the methyl bromide chloropicrin and alerted police shortly after 1 a.m., the sheriff’s office said.

The North County Fire Protection District evacuated about 150 migrant workers camping near the site, 12 rest-home residents and occupants of other homes within a half-mile radius, while they worked through the night and fought a heavy fog to repair the tarp with duct tape, said fire district spokesman Randy Meers.

No injuries were reported from the leaking gas, a burning irritant that is considered toxic in high quantities, Meers said.

“It was mainly a precautionary move, while we repaired the tarp” and county health workers tested the air for gas, he said.

About 30 of the evacuees stayed at the Maie Ellis Elementary School a mile away. All of the residents were cleared to return to their homes at about 8 a.m., Meers said.