Hazmat incident at Colorado Springs business under investigation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - An investigation is underway to figure out what caused this hazmat emergency. A brown-orange plume created a tense situation for people at "Key Sight Technologies."

KRDO13 learned "Key Sight Technologies" employees started feeling dizzy after that plume of smoke went up. However, they were all checked out, and luckily no one was injured. An employee provided KRDO13 with a video where people can see the brown-orange smoke coming out of the top of the building.

 According to the Colorado Springs Fire Department, it was nitrogen dioxide and the leak was caused by an equipment failure. Key Sight Technologies stores nitric acid for etching metal. And when that decomposes, it turns into nitrogen dioxide which can be dangerous. Fire crews got the call at about 8 in the morning. After they arrived all the employees were sent home for the day.  

"The initial call that came into us was that there was sort of an orange or brown plume of smoke coming from one of their chemical tanks in the back of the building was most likely a nitrogen dioxide release, which is going to cause that orange to brownish cloud," said Ashley Franco with the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department cleared all crews from the scene before 4 p.m. Firefighters said it is now up to the owners of the building on whether or not the employees will return to work on Friday morning.