Two people were hospitalized, streets flooded and a strip club evacuated after an early-morning crude oil pipeline break sent a geyser of black goo spurting into the air Thursday.
Streets were closed in Atwater Village near Glendale northeast of downtown Los Angeles after approximately 10,000 gallons of crude oil -- enough to fill a backyard swimming pool -- spilled over a half-mile area. An above-ground 20-inch pipeline broke around 12:15 a.m. Thursday near 5175 W. San Fernando Rd.
- Watch: Raw Video of Oil Geyser
Oil shot 15 to 20 feet upward and onto a nearby business, The Gentlemen’s Club, coating the windows. The Gentlemen's Club, which according to its website features "full nude exotic dancers," was evacuated, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Two workers from a nearby industrial plant for Baxter, a healthcare company, were sickened by the fumes and transported to the hospital.
Aerial video showed pools of oil across several blocks and on top of the adult entertainment club.
"This oil comes from the Bakersfield area, this is a pumping transfer station and pumping transfer station then transfers the oil to a storage facility in Long Beach," Batallion Chief David Spence said.
LAFD reported that oil was knee-high in some areas.
The pipeline, which trasports oil from Bakersfield to Texas, was remotely shut off within 10 minutes of firefighters arriving, but oil continued to spew for an additional 45 minutes, according to the LAFD.
The spill happened in a predominantly industrial area. Four workers from Baxter were evaluated for general illness and respiratory concerns and two of them were taken to the hospital.
A total of five commercial businesses have been affected, according to LAFD. Oil did not go inside any of the businesses.
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Several blocks near San Fernando Road and West Broadway have been cordoned off as fire crews and clean up officials work to clear the area. Clean up could take at least 24 hours.
Most of the oil on the street has been vaccumed up and crews will now use absorbent diapers to sop up the oil, according to LAFD Chief Jaime Moore. Moore said that crews will then pressure wash everything using a soapy soluion to remove any remaining oil on the asphalt.
San Fernando Road between Brazil Street and Electronics Place is currently closed and businesses on Brazil Street are expected to be inaccessible while crews clean up the spill.
The Department of Transportation is assisting with traffic.
The LAFD had initially reported that it was a 50,000-gallon oil spill, but that number was reduced to 10,000 gallons a few hours later.
Kate Larsen contributed to this report.