A Fife couple had to flee their home when two cleaning products used to unblock their loo reacted and caused a chemical incident.
Specialist firefighters wearing hazmat suits were drafted in after Iain Smith tried to fix the toilet in the Glenrothes house he shares with wife Shareem using bleach then drain cleaner.
The toxic combination produced such a noxious gas he and Shareem had to leave the house in Bilsland Path North with their two dogs, one of which had started coughing.
Iain was later taken to Victoria Hospital, in Kirkcaldy, for checks but released with a clean bill of health.
Shareem said: “We’ll get the plumber out next time.”
The couple called emergency services at around 6pm on Saturday after the products reacted and began bubbling over.
So potent was the chemical mixture that a plastic pipe corroded and water they used to try to flush the liquids away came through the kitchen ceiling below.
Two local fire crews were dispatched to the quiet street in Rimbleton along with the specialist team from Edinburgh and ambulances.
Shareem said: “We didn’t think for a minute that there would be a full-scale response like that.
“My husband was coughing, it irritated his throat, so they sent him to hospital for a quick check-up and he was okay.”
Shareem said she and Iain didn’t realise two household products could react so fiercely together and added: “The firefighters said a similar thing had happened in Edinburgh last week.”
The couple stayed away with their dogs overnight to allow the fumes to dissipate and have had to keep the pets out of the kitchen in case the chemicals have seeped into the floor.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “We were called at 6.01pm on Saturday to Bilsland Path in Glenrothes.
“It appears two cleaning chemicals had been combined and had released some sort of gas.
“One male casualty was taken to hospital.
“We had two appliances there along with the specialist hazmat team from Edinburgh.”
