Gary & Leo's evacuated Saturday because of a Freon refrigerant leak

A Freon container exploded at Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods Saturday evening, releasing Freon gas into the store, Assistant Havre Fire Chief Kelly Jones said, leading to the evacuation of the store.

The fire department sent one ambulance to the store.

“One of the employees who was back there was taken, for precautions, up to the hospital,” Jones said. “They aired out the building and then let everyone back in.”

The evacuation process took about a half an hour, from 5:29 p.m. to 6:05 p.m., he added.

The leak came from a failed self-contained cooler in the produce department, John Malisani, a manager at Gary & Leo’s, said. He added that the cooler was not connected to the rest of the store’s refrigerators and did not impact them.

The gas that leaked from the cooler is not flammable, Malisani said.

The refrigerant, commonly known as Freon, is a tasteless, mostly odorless gas, Healthline.com reports.

“When (Freon) is deeply inhaled, it can cut off vital oxygen to your cells and lungs. Limited exposure — for example, a spill on your skin or breathing near an open container — is only mildly harmful,” Healthline’s website states. “However, you should try to avoid all contact with these types of chemicals. Even small amounts can cause symptoms.”

“We didn’t know what it was, so we asked everyone to leave and called the fire department,” Malisani said, adding that NorthWestern Energy inspected the building afterward and reported that everything was fine.

“I put the case that failed in back (behind the store) and we’ll have it fixed,” he said. “We have our refrigeration guy coming today to check it out.”

“I was very impressed with the staff,” Malisani added. “They got everybody out of the store; they executed it perfectly. They could not have done better.”