Milford firefighters bring a hose inside the Perkins Rouge and Paint Co. as billows of yellowish smoke pour from the doorway. Every firefighter at the scene was taken to Milford Hospital as a precaution. (Photo courtesy of David Purcell)

MILFORD — A Tuesday morning blaze at a Buckingham Avenue paint company created an environmental and safety hazard that sent 23 city firefighters and two others to Milford Hospital for evaluation after they were exposed to toxic smoke, officials said.

The blaze caused widespread damage at Perkins Rouge and Paint Co., but no one was seriously injured, a top fire official said.

Perkins Rouge and Paint Co. mixes heavy metals, oxidizing agents and poisons to produce colored dyes for fireworks, said acting Fire Capt. Christopher Zak.

Byproducts from the burning chemicals produced billows of smoke that created a safety and environmental hazard, Zak said.

All firefighters who responded to the blaze, and the two people who were in the building when the fire broke out, were taken to the hospital as a precaution, Battalion Chief William Healy said. One firefighter injured his back, Zak said.

“Everyone that was here was in the smoke one time or another, mask or not,” Healy said.

Air inside the Milford site for the Kennedy Center Inc., adjacent to the paint company, was found to contain hazardous level of toxins. The building was evacuated, Zak said.

“We’re dealing with the situation just fine,” said Martin Schwartz, Kennedy Center president. “We’ve relocated all the people there to another one of our locations.”

He said about 10 clients at the rehabilitation center for mentally challenged people will be treated at an alternative location for the next day or two.

The abutting Beth-El Center was evacuated for a few hours.

“We fared fairly well, and the Fire Department was very professional, as always, and awesome,” said Toni Dolan, the center’s executive director.

Food prepared for the daily lunch at the homeless shelter’s soup kitchen was exposed to toxic chemicals and so discarded, Dolan said.

The hazardous materials management company, Clean Harbors, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Coast Guard all responded to the fire.

Clean Harbors vacuumed the water that was used to put out the fire when it turned green after reacting with chemicals, Zak said.

Firefighters first responded to the warehouse-type building at 49 Buckingham Ave. at 9:56 a.m. on a report of a fire in the machine shop. The fire quickly spread to the rest of the building, authorities said. Large plumes of yellow smoke were visible.

When firefighters attempted to open the roof, flames shot out and the roof sagged. All firefighters were ordered off the structure.

The fire was under control by about 10:40 a.m. The fire remains under investigation.

Preliminary reports indicate the fire started in a machine inside the building, but an official cause has not been determined.

“Until we can get in there and check the machine, we can’t determine the cause of the fire,” Healy said.

The extent of the damage was unknown because the potentially hazardous conditions inside the building prevented an assessment from being made immediately, Zak said.

The building is owned by Burvee Frez, an employee said. Frez could not be reached for comment.

A minor fire occurred at the same company on Nov. 17, 2006.

James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com.

©New Haven Register 2008