Several people were hospitalized after being exposed to caustic hazardous substance in the Jurupa Valley on Friday afternoon.
Just after 10 a.m., members of the CAL Fire and Riverside County Fire Department Hazardous Materials team made their way to a building in the 2200 block of Via Cerro. CAL Fire and RVC Fire announced their investigation into the substance on Twitter.
"Firefighters are on scene working to identify an unidentified substance," the tweet read in part.
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A few hours later, at 12:46 p.m., the same account tweeted an update.
Seven civilians and two firefighters were sent to hospitals by the substance. The two firefighters were treated and released just before 1:30 p.m., but the extent and nature of their injuries is not yet known.
No further information about the hospitalized civilians was made available.
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The building was evacuated, and Riverside County firefighters and identified the substance as a caustic material -- some kind of corrosive substance that damages living tissue.
Environmental Health is handling cleanup of the substance, the RVC Fire Twitter account said. No further detail about the specific chemical was shared.
