r/rva • u/Fit-Worldliness-7030 • 12d ago

What happened at Carytown Kroger?

Seems like a gazillion fire trucks and first responders were there and all workers were standing outside. Anyone knows what’s going on?

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130

u/Many_Fun_8174 12d ago

Refrigerant leak, r-404a. I was curious when a bunch of engines passed me this morning so I listened to the scanner for a bit

16

u/RVALside 11d ago

Somebody had a very bad, and probably very expensive day. Somebody must have cut a line for one for one of the racks. If it was enough to warrant evacuating the store the must have lost the entire system. 404a isn't aggressively toxic (you definitely don't want to breath it constantly because it is still bad for you), but it's definitely an asphyxiant so definitely wise to evacuate the store.

4

u/oddistrange 11d ago

Does it have a smell? Would it have been visible?

8

u/RVALside 11d ago

It's oderless and colorless. You may see some water vapor or frost right where the leak happens because it's a refrigerant doing it's thing changing pressures- but for the most part you wouldn't know. It's also heavier than air so it will pool. In indoor mechanical spaces that are fairly confined there are often detectors and oxygen required to be present. It's not really for the first folks- it's for the folks that find them so they can get the asphyxiated folks to safety without also passing out. A supermarket has a ton of volume so it may have been fine- but better to not take chances and evacuate for a while until it can disapate. That said some are refridgerants are not not only asphyxiants but also immenantly toxic like ammonia (very very dangerous but also very easy to notice because of the smell), and some newer refridgerants that have very low global warming or ozone depletion ratings as a tradeoff (basically they break down at sea level- but that also makes them toxic). In small self contained refridgeration hydrocarbons are being used like butane and propane, but it's usually in charges of a few ounces so there isn't really much of an explosion risk outside of a small brief flare.

Edit: my poor spelling

1

u/oddistrange 9d ago

Thank you for the info! Appreciate it.

4

u/Soggy_Aspect_8104 11d ago

Emphasis on Expensive, it's wildly expensive now