Paxton firefighters could not respond to a man and woman who spilt nitric acid on themselves yesterday because the station was offline.

Paxton fire station was three streets away from the incident in Frances Street, yet the call centre had to send fire crews from Weston, Bellbird and Maitland, two from Cessnock and the heavy Hazmat vehicle from Newcastle.

Fortunately the man and woman knew enough first aid to treat themselves until firefighters arrived and flushed the wounds with water while paramedics were en route.

Maitland Community Unions Alliance spokeswoman Mary Yaager said this was the second time in weeks that an incident had occurred in Paxton and fire crews had to be brought in from other areas to respond.

via Acid spills on couple, forced to wait for help    | The Maitland Mercury.