Backyard Pool Chemical Explosion Sends Oceanside Man To The Hospital, Fire Marshal Says

OCEANSIDE, NY — An Oceanside man was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center Friday after a pair of swimming pool chemicals reacted to create a chlorine explosion in his back yard, fire officials said.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office said firefighters scrambled to a home on Shore Road in Oceanside just before 8:30 p.m. Friday after a 911 call reported that an explosion had taken place there. According to fire officials, the 59-year-old owner of the home had put two different brands of powdered pool shock into his pool’s chlorine feeder — which already had chlorine tablets inside — and then screwed the top closed.

According to fire officials, the mixture of two kinds of pool shock — containing high concentrations of two different active ingredients — and the chlorine tablets in the confined environment of the pool feeder created a high-pressure chemical reaction, causing the feeder to explode.

Upon arrival, firefighters found that the 59-year-old man had been injured in the explosion, suffering chemical burns on his face and chemical contact injuries to his right eye, the NCFM said.

Fire officials said the chemical reaction had not subsided by the time firefighters arrived, adding that firefighters found dangerous chlorine gas emitting from the chemical mixture in the man’s yard. With assistance from a hazardous materials team, a team of about 30 Oceanside firefighters were able to get the situation under control in under an hour, officials said.

In the aftermath of the chemical incident, the fire marshal’s office has urged Nassau County pool owners to exercise proper caution when putting chemicals into their pools. Pool shock, officials noted, is designed to be poured directly into the water, allowing for an entire pool full of water to offset any chemical reactions that the pool shock might have. Even though those chemicals are commonplace in homes and on store shelves, officials said they can still be dangerous when deployed improperly.