A five-gallon bucket fell from a military aircraft Wednesday night and damaged vehicles in a Miramar auto repair shop, San Diego Fire Department officials said.
The bucket crashed through the roof of Renegade Performance in the 6300 block of Marindustry Drive sometime between 4 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday.
An RV and several vehicles were impacted by the pieces of the ceiling and bucket that shattered when the bucket fell through. The RV sustained the bulk of the damage.
The bucket accidentally fell from an MCAS-based MV2 Osprey at about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, said Lt. Tyler Balzer with MCAS Miramar.
Balzer said the bucket was strapped down, but at some point it came loose and fell through the auto repair shop. The bucket broke apart upon impact, spilling the cleaning solution.
The bucket contained "non-toxic environmentally friendly" material, said San Diego Fire Department Battalion Chief Glen Holder.
A HazMat team was called to the scene Thursday afternoon as a protocol measure. They have not yet determined if the material is toxic or not.
There was no one present in the shop when the bucket landed, and no injuries were reported. Employees discovered the damages when they arrived to work Thursday morning.
The owner of the business would not comment on the incident.
MCAS Miramar tweeted about the incident just after noon on Thursday:
A Mrmr-based aircraft accidentally dropped a 5-gal bucket of non-hazardous cleaner N of Mrmr yesterday. No injuries, more info to follow.
— MCAS Miramar, 3rdMAW (@MCASMiramarCA) January 17, 2013
There is no estimate yet of the cost of the damages, but MCAS is working with the owners of the business to cover all damage costs.