Odor at storage facility was caused by leak of muriatic acid, officials say

An odor reported Wednesday afternoon in Costa Mesa was the result of muriatic acid that leaked and was eating away at concrete inside a storage unit, fire officials said.

The Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department responded to the Life Storage facility at 3190 Pullman St. after a report of an acetone-like odor at about 2:10 p.m., said Capt. Chris Coates.

Officials determined the smell was coming from a unit that contained several hazardous materials, including muriatic acid. Diluted muriatic acid can be used for tasks such as removing stains from swimming pool surfaces.

Coates said crews used another substance to neutralize the acid and then cleaned up the spill. Hazardous-materials teams from the Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County Health Care Agency assisted with the investigation.

Authorities cleaned up the unit by 6 p.m.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN

UPDATES:

10:10 a.m. May 10: This article was updated with the cause of the odor and details of the spill.

This article was originally published at 5:15 p.m. May 9.