Tuesday afternoon the Bishop Volunteers were called out to respond to a report of an unknown hazardous material in the street. When the fire fighters arrived on scene they found bottles of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, on the lawn in front of a house on Bear Creek in the Meadow Creek neighborhood.

Fire Chief Ray Seguine reports that contractors working on the house had left the three bottles on the curb to be picked up with the regular garbage. A neighbor taking a walk had spotted the bottles of acid and called the authorities.

Chief Seguine explained the chemicals can be used in etching glass and photography. He added that a person who lived in the house had been a photographer. This was similar to what neighbors outside had explained.

The street had been blocked off, but neither neighbors nor the firefighters appeared overly upset by the situation. With the material well contained, a fire fighter put on thick rubber gloves and placed the bottles in a large yellow container known as an over pack drum. The acid was then taken to the county landfill hazardous materials locker.

This was the second call for the firefighters Tuesday. Close to 1:00 in the afternoon, the volunteers headed to Dennys to put out a smoldering stump. Chief Seguine explained that people smoking toss their cigarettes near the stump, causing the smoldering fire. With this the second time this year that the firefighters have been called out for this same stump, Seguine says he told the owners to get a backhoe and remove it.

Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading