Four people taken to hospital after feeling ill at post office annex
Published on Tue, Sep 25, 2012 by BY PAM STEVENS | MANAGING EDITORRead More Local News
Lake Stevens Fire Department medics were called to the postal annex at 12216 36th St. NE in Lake Stevens last Tuesday, Sept. 18 after a female employee fell ill with what was considered flu like symptoms.
“A female was feeling woozy and was having breathing difficulties when the fire department arrived and soon another female started complaining of similar symptoms,” Lake Stevens Police Chief Randy Celori said.
Soon two other employees were experiencing the same symptoms so the fire department evacuated the building and called in a Hazmat team.
“The Snohomish County Hazmat team went in with a hazardous materials detector/monitoring device,” Lake Stevens Fire Department Deputy Chief Larry Huff said. “After multiple employees started having symptoms we decided to call for the Hazmat team and the LSPD.”
Police went in to ensure that there was no foul play involved and questioned post office employees.
“When we were contacted we considered it a crime scene just in case it was determined that there was some sort of chemical attack,” Celori said. “There were no chemical substances detected.”
After finding no noxious chemicals, employees were allowed back into the building around 2 p.m.
Although there were no chemicals found, Celori says that if you think there may be a problem, don’t hesitate to call and report it.
“If anyone thinks there may be a hazardous material they should evacuate the area immediately and call 911,” he said. “We are thankful there were no chemicals detected and it was a good exercise for the fire and police departments.”
“A female was feeling woozy and was having breathing difficulties when the fire department arrived and soon another female started complaining of similar symptoms,” Lake Stevens Police Chief Randy Celori said.
Soon two other employees were experiencing the same symptoms so the fire department evacuated the building and called in a Hazmat team.
“The Snohomish County Hazmat team went in with a hazardous materials detector/monitoring device,” Lake Stevens Fire Department Deputy Chief Larry Huff said. “After multiple employees started having symptoms we decided to call for the Hazmat team and the LSPD.”
Police went in to ensure that there was no foul play involved and questioned post office employees.
“When we were contacted we considered it a crime scene just in case it was determined that there was some sort of chemical attack,” Celori said. “There were no chemical substances detected.”
After finding no noxious chemicals, employees were allowed back into the building around 2 p.m.
Although there were no chemicals found, Celori says that if you think there may be a problem, don’t hesitate to call and report it.
“If anyone thinks there may be a hazardous material they should evacuate the area immediately and call 911,” he said. “We are thankful there were no chemicals detected and it was a good exercise for the fire and police departments.”
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