UPDATE: More details released after dozens sickened by chlorine spill at Yucaipa Regional Park

August 16, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

UPDATED: Monday, Aug. 16, 1:38 p.m., With additional details from OES.

Originally Published: Sunday, Aug. 15, 6:45 a.m.

YUCAIPA, Calif., — Although an accurate final count has not yet been confirmed, the Office of Emergency Services has reported that twenty-seven people were hospitalized after a pump apparently malfunctioned at a pool located within the Yucaipa Regional Park Friday afternoon, Aug. 13. In their own release, Cal Fire San Bernardino has reported that twenty-five people were evaluated, but only fifteen were hospitalized.

The mass casualty incident brought a long line of fire apparatus and law enforcement vehicles, along with numerous ambulances that responded to the scene from around the surrounding communities. One woman, who along with her daughter were overcome and sickened by the chlorine fumes later described her terrifying ordeal, saying, “It was horrible. It was pure chaos. There was no escape.”

Another victim described the terrifying scene, saying it “was like something you would see in the movies.” The father also said that as he fled the thick cloud of fumes with his family they witnessed fleeing victims collapsing to the ground and vomiting after being overcome by fumes as they dispersed outward away from the pool.

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Cal Fire San Bernardino and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the regional park, located at 33900 Oak Glen Road, sometime before 2:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a chemical spill with numerous victims sickened and injured.

An early release from the scene by Cal Fire San Bernardino indicated firefighters and paramedics had initially identified fifteen victims. The most immediate victim’s injuries were considered severe and that victim was immediately rushed to Loma Linda University Medical Center, according to CFSB. Five additional victims were quickly identified with moderate injuries, while another nine had minor injuries. All were eventually transported to LLUMC.

However, based on the numbers provided by the OES, those numbers soon apparently increased as more victims were identified and treated, before being transported to area hospitals, according to OES released details about the incident.

Dozens of swimmers, including many children, were reportedly injured and as many as two dozen were hospitalized when a pool pump at the Yucaipa Regional Park apparently malfunctioned, spilling five to ten gallons of chlorine into the pool within a matter of moments. Jason Sage photo

Officials who responded to the crisis were immediately met by crowds of swimmers and park-goers who were still in the process of evacuating from the pool area, where the strong odor of chlorine continued to linger in the air.

Firefighter paramedics quickly began identifying victims who had been overcome and sickened after being exposed to high levels of chlorine and chemical fumes after a malfunctioning pump released five to ten gallons of chlorine into the regional park’s pool, an OES Hazardous Materials Spill Report later reported.

Reports from the scene indicated many of the victims reported experiencing symptoms including shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, vomiting, blurred vision and dizziness and burning pain on their skin.

Hazmat teams were eventually able to mitigate the chlorine fumes and contain the chlorine within the pool, preventing it from going into area storm canals, sewage drains or other waterways, the OES report said.

Friday’s crisis brought ambulances from around the surrounding communities to deal with the large number of those who were sickened by the chlorine fumes. Cal Fire San Bernardino photos

Area resident Jason Sage, who had been visiting the park’s pool with his family, later described his family’s traumatizing experience, telling NBC Channel 4 he witnessed people collapsing and vomiting after being overcome by fumes while trying to flee the chemical cloud as it dispersed outward away from the pool.

“All of a sudden this yellow, orange, neon-colored stuff started coming out of the vents,” the father described; adding that the terrifying scene “looked like something you would see in the movies.”

“Everybody took off running and … some people started collapsing,” Sage continued. “People were choking, spitting up, throwing up.”

“It was pretty toxic, just the burning feeling you had in your lungs and throat,” he described.

“It was like something you would see in the movies,” area resident Jason Sage later told NBC Channel 4. Another victim described the scene as “horrible … pure chaos.” Jason Sage photo

Another victim, Fontana resident Lacie Sage, later described her and her young daughter’s experience after becoming sickened while swimming at the pool.

Sage described that she realized something was very wrong when she suddenly caught a deep breath of chlorine fumes.

“The chemicals started pumping into the pool (at) a rapid rate,” she described. “Then the fumes went into the air. There was no escaping.”

“It was horrible. It was pure chaos,” the mother described, saying she has since been trying to contact county officials for facts about what caused the scary incident.

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“I was holding my daughter up in my arm and waving at a fireman to come help me with her. He was at the top of a hill and he waved back at me to come to him, (but) never came down to help me,” she continued; saying by the time officials began arriving she and her daughter had fled to another area of the park to escape the choking chlorine fumes.

The pool remained closed to the public throughout the weekend, while officials continued to investigate the incident as well as safely drain the pool and repair the pool’s pump.

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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.