Emergency crews were forced to evacuate the hockey arenas at the only recreation centre in Airdrie because of an ammonia leak that was detected on Saturday morning.
Police say that at about 7:05 a.m., an ammonia leak alarm sounded in the ‘Twin Arenas’ area of Genesis Place on East Lake Boulevard in Airdrie.
As a result, the arenas were immediately evacuated by city staff while they awaited the arrival of first responders.
No one was injured in the leak.
Constable Casondra Greene with the Airdrie RCMP says the leak was contained to a single room in the facility but they had no idea where the leak was when they got there..
"The alarm had been shut off by staff before we got there so we were just trying to determine the extent of the leak."
Greene says a number of the closures were precautionary.
The leak only led to the closure of the Twin Arenas and all other areas, including the fieldhouse, gyms and swimming pool, remained operational.
A few hours after the closure, the arena was reopened, but the situation had the potential to be much worse.
In October 2017, three men died while trying to repair an ammonia leak at the Fernie Memorial Hockey Arena.
They were exposed to highly toxic anhydrous ammonia, a chemical used in the cooling process at many arenas across the country, that was found to be leaking in the facility.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety says ammonia is a colourless gas that is toxic if inhaled.
