Manager Ray Smith said last week sensors had alerted staff to the malfunctioning of the chlorination system, which led to them switching the system off and manually chlorinating the pool.

“Today a [chlorine] gas leak occurred while CFA officers and Aquazone staff were investigating the cause of the initial fault,” Mr Smith said.

“To ensure everyone’s safety, the Aquazone car park was closed for about two hours from 11.30am to allow any gas to dissipate. The indoor pool was evacuated and as a precaution cars were unable to enter or leave the site.

“Patrons were provided with free food and drinks while they waited to be given the all-clear by the CFA.

“While this was certainly an inconvenience for some patrons, no members of the public were at risk.

“Safety is always our number one priority and we would like to thank all of our customers for their patience and understanding.”

Mr Smith said he expected a technician would be at the site to repair the fault by the end of next week.

He said staff would continue to manually chlorinate the pool in the meantime.

“We’d like to thank the CFA and the police for their quick action in helping resolve the situation,” Mr Smith said.

“It’s back to business as usual and with a forecast top temperature of 30 degrees for Tuesday we encourage everyone to come on down to Aquazone for a swim and cool off.”

UPDATE 2.15pm: The scene of a chlorine leak at Aquazone has been deemed safe and the centre reopened.

CFA senior station officer Owen Maslen said the scene was declared safe just prior to 1.30pm after bulk cylinders were switched off.

Mr Maslen said officers had been unable to identify the source of the leak, and follow-up work to find it would take place while the cylinders remained switched off.

UPDATE 12.30pm: Warrnambool police Leading Senior Constable Chris Carr said emergency services were taking a “precautionary reduction of risk”.

He said people were being prevented from accessing the car park because it might be affected by the leak. 

EARLIER: Emergency services are responding to a hazmat incident at Warrnambool’s AquaZone, after an unconfirmed chlorine leak.

A CFA spokesman said the incident was chemical related.

“It’s an unconfirmed chlorine leak,” he said.

“It was called in at 11.30am and is still ongoing.”

There are two hazmat vehicles a pumper and a tanker on the scene.

Police are also attending and people have been told not to start their cars in the car park.

People have been asked to move to a safe area. 

MORE TO COME.