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Shelter Warning Lifted After Santa Rosa Debris Fire

SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) - A shelter-in-place order was lifted late Thursday morning for a Santa Rosa neighborhood where a fire burned a pile of debris that included a leaking gas cylinder, officials said.

Firefighters responding to a fire in the front yard of a home in the 1200 block of Kerney Street at about 6:30 a.m. came upon a compressed-gas cylinder containing hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and hydrous gas, Santa Rosa fire inspector Toby Rey said.

The cylinder was leaking, and a shelter-in-place order was issued. The gases in the cylinder are poisonous and corrosive to human tissue, Rey said.

Residents in the 1200 block of Kerney Street and the 1500 block of Lance Drive were asked to stay in their homes, close all doors and windows, and bring pets inside, according to police.

The cylinder was closed off at about 10 a.m. and the shelter-in-place order lifted at 10:15 a.m.

Rey didn't know what the gases might have been used for.

Lynne Highstreet, who lives in that block, said she woke up to a commotion. She went outside and was met with a strong odor.

"When I walked out here I first smelled this horrible smell," she said.

She learned that a fire was burning in a neighbor's yard. She said the man who lives at the home has a large junk collection.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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