Updated: Westfield Resident Contaminated Due To Hazardous Materials in Brightwood Park

A contamination that sent one Westfield resident in her 20s to the hospital on Thursday morning, appears to have been an acid-based mixture of ammonia and bleach, according to Union County Emergency Management Director Christopher Sbaturo.

The victim was treated on scene. "If it was not done quickly, she very well could have died," Sbaturo said. 

The woman was exposed to the hazardous materials in  on Thursday morning and called 911 at 10:33 a.m., saying she couldn't breathe in Brightwood Park. The woman passed out when police found her, Police Captain David Wayman said.

The woman, whose name has not been released by police, was treated and transported to Overlook Medical Center in Summit, Police Captain David Wayman said. As of late afternoon on Thursday she was in stable condition, according to Sbaturo.

In the park, officers also found a make shift structure made out of tarp and other materials. It's still unknown which chemicals the police are dealing with. The situation occurred in towards the back of the 44-acre park, with the emergency staging area at Fanwood Avenue and John Street.

The HAZMAT situation closed off Brightwood Park around 11 a.m. and also sent one police officer to the hospital on Thursday morning, after being in contact with the woman in the park. Another officer was also in contact with the woman, but not sent to the hospital, according to Wayman.

Police also heard a scream from the roughly 60-acre park, but could not locate anybody. Out of precaution, officers from the Westfield Emergency Services Unit unloaded assault rifles from a van and put on body armor around 12:30 p.m.

Wayman said the incident did not appear to be criminal in nature.

The park was cleared by the HAZMAT team around 2 p.m. and the ESU team entered the park to secure the area. A group from the state Department of Environmental Protection responded to the park Thursday afternoon.

A little after noon, two of the first responding officers came out of the park and returned to the command post that had been set up on Fanwood Avenue. The officers had to be cleared by the HAZMAT team first, to ensure the officers weren't contaminated.

At the hospital, a non-contaminated police officer entered the Emergency Room to inform the medical staff about the contamination.

Around 11 a.m. the park was closed off, and the first police cars arrived after Westfield police responded to the end of Brown Avenue near the back of Brightwood Park. Fanwood Avenue has been closed and a command center has been set up. The main enterance to the park, on Prospect Street has also been closed. 

Around noon, an ambulance from the Westfield Rescue Squad arrived at the scene. A few minutes after that, two HAZMAT officers—wearing oxygen masks—walked out of the park to the command center on Fanwood Avenue.

Westfield police were looking for the owner of the cell phone that called in with the situation, according to police communications.

Officers from Westfield, Scotch Plains and members of the Union County HAZMAT team were all on scene. The Union County Sheriff also arrived at the scene around noon.

Brightwood Park is a 44-acre bucolic nature preserve located on the far northwest end of town, near the border with Scotch Plains. The park features the town's largest pond and hiking trails through the woods.

Editor's Note: Hoboken Patch Editor Claire Moses contributed to this report.