The Mennen building on Hanover Avenue in Morris Township was evacuated Thursday when xylene fumes were detected, according to Fire Chief Scott Lovenberg.
Lovenberg said that his department responded to a fire alarm at about 6:15 a.m. and the first fire fighters on the scene detected a solvent-like chemical odor. The building was evacuated, he said, and other agencies, including the Morris Minutemen, were summoned to the scene.
According to Lovenberg, the smell was identified as xylene. It is believed that a tanker truck that was backed-up to the building for a pick-up of soap-related materials may have had residual xylene in its tank from a prior run, he said.
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Lovenberg said that the release was gas-only, and involved no xylene in liquid form.
Employees have now returned to the building, he said
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