Memorial City evacuated after ammonia leak

Holiday shopping came to a screeching halt yesterday evening at Memorial City when an ammonia leak forced shoppers to drop their packages and flee the mall. It happened around 6 p.m. when ammonia fumes escaped from a maintenance room near the mall's ice rink (the ammonia is used to make the ice); an alarm was sounded and parts of the building was evacuated. Fortunately, it turned out to be no big deal:

"Once our Haz-Mat unit got on location, they started doing air samples of the mall. They were working kinda out and back towards the mechanical room," said District Chief Harvey Yaw of the Houston Fire Department. "The concentrations of ammonia in the mall were minor."

"We're thankful that our emergency response procedures enabled a quick and effective evacuation of mall property while authorities confirmed the situation had been contained," said Memorial City Mall spokesperson Sherry Burton-Fowler.

The evacuated part of the mall reopened later. Amazingly enough, as KTRK notes, it wasn't the only ammonia/ice rink-related scare in the area yesterday: About the same thing happened at a skating center in Sugar Land. When it rains, it pours.