3:15 p.m.: The evacuation of the Breckenridge City Market on Monday, July 28, came after a refrigerant leak in the grocery store, according to Jay Nelson, the CEO and fire marshal of Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District.

Nelson said the fire department responded to a call about an “explosion” at City Market just after 1 p.m., and when crews arrived, they found that the refrigerant alarm and fire alarm were both going off.

“The refrigerant alarm detects the refrigerants that are used for the freezers in refrigeration units throughout the store,” Nelson said. “They were detecting the refrigerant had leaked out and was potentially going throughout the store.”

When refrigerant leaks, it can displace the oxygen in the space it enters, Nelson said, prompting the evacuation. The Breckenridge Police Department wrote in a Facebook post that the chemical was a known asphyxiant. The fire department worked with City Market employees that can monitor the store’s systems remotely to determine next steps.

“We ventilated the store, or removed that refrigerant from the store to make sure that it was safe,” Nelson said.

The building is now safe to reenter, Nelson said, and the store will reopen once City Market employees are back inside and ready to open.

“The leak has been safely remedied,” according to a Breckenridge Police Department post that was updated around 3 p.m. “Air quality and oxygen saturation within the store has returned to a safe level. City Market will reopen shortly, but has closed off access to the frozen food section for repairs.”

Summit County environmental health workers are working with the store to address any consumer products that may have been affected by the leak, Nelson said.

Fire department personnel will continue working with City Market to determine the cause of the leak, Nelson said, but the initial investigation shows the leak likely occurred in the compressor room.

“We don’t know if it was a failure of a pipe. We don’t know if it was a failure of a compressor or some (other) part in the system,” Nelson said.

Nelson said officials do not think anybody in the store was put at risk by the leak.

“Everybody got out in a timely manner and weren’t exposed to significantly hazardous situations,” Nelson said. “(There were) pretty low levels of what leaked out, but we took ultimate precautions just to make sure everybody was safe.”

3 p.m.: A compressor in the back of City Market in Breckenridge erupted, causing a refrigeration line to leak inside the frozen food aisle, according to a Facebook post by the Breckenridge Police Department.

The chemical was a known asphyxiant, and it prompted the evacuation, police say. No injuries were reported after an “explosion” was reported around 1 p.m.

The post states that the leak was safely remedied and air quality and oxygen saturation within the store has returned to a safe level. City Market is preparing to reopen, according to the post, but the frozen food section will remain closed for repairs.

2:30 p.m.: The Breckenridge Police Department stated in a Facebook post that it is assisting the Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District with the evacuation of the City Market in Breckenridge.

The grocery store currently has “oxygen displacement” in the building, the post states, which makes it unsafe to enter.

The police department asks the public to avoid the area while first responders stabilize the situation.