POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – Two deaths and one hospitalization in Palm Beach and Broward counties prompted an investigation on Tuesday at a warehouse in Pompano Beach, according to city and county officials.
There was a hazardous and toxic materials investigation at the Baer’s Furniture Warehouse, at 1589 NW 12th Ave., after detectives uncovered a connection to the three cases, according to Sandra King, a spokeswoman for the city of Pompano Beach.
As a precaution, there were a few ambulances and paramedics on standby. Workers evacuated the warehouse and waited under a tent and in cars in a parking lot near the warehouse’s loading dock until a HAZMAT team cleared the warehouse on Tuesday afternoon.
Carey Codd, a Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesman, reported detectives learned the three were employees of a pesticide company that had conducted work at the Baer’s Furniture warehouse until Saturday afternoon in Pompano Beach.
“Later that day, one of the employees began to feel ill and went to a hospital in Palm Beach County,” Codd wrote in a statement. “It was discovered later that day that the other two employees were found deceased. One was found deceased in Hollywood and the other in Boynton Beach.”
Detectives with the Boynton Beach and Hollywood police departments are investigating the two deaths, according to Codd. The medical examiners’ offices in Broward and Palm Beach counties were investigating the cause of the deaths.
Another HAZMAT team was also involved after police officers found a man dead in a vehicle on Saturday night in the area of Taft Street and North 17th Avenue, according to Deanna Bettineschi, a spokeswoman for the Hollywood Police Department.
“No hazardous chemicals were found coming from the vehicle,” Bettineschi wrote in an email on Tuesday.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported the deaths of the pesticide company employees after working at the warehouse to the Environmental Protection Agency, according to Davina Marraccini, of EPA’s Region 4.
A Baer’s Furniture representative released a statement on Tuesday afternoon reporting that none of the company’s employees at the warehouse were injured.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editors Frine Gomez and Luis Castro contributed to this report.
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