While most people were preparing for their holiday weekend on Friday, National City residents were scrambling to avoid breathing in remnants of deceased loved ones.
An accident at a San Diego area crematorium sent heavy smoke up in the air containing ashes of human remains.
The incident was reported at 12:15 p.m. at the Cortez Family Crematorium in National City, according to ABC News affiliate KGTV.
National City Fire Captain Brian Krebs [sic] told the station that the furnace was in use, but the oven door failed to close. This sent heavy smoke out of the chimney as well as the open doors of the building.
The smoke moved east over the I-5 and continued for a half hour. It not only contained human ashes, but also a chemical fire suppression agent.
"You don’t want to breathe the agent if at all possible," said Krepps.
You definitely don’t want to breathe in the remains either.
No sooner had the smoke cleared than a completely unrelated power outage left 2,000 South Bay residents in total darkness. SDG&E customers in National City and surrounding areas lost their power Saturday at around 9:30 p.m. for a period of two hours.
Poor National City just can’t catch a break.