Odor causes evacuation of Fayette stores
By LAURA DIAMOND
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/28/04
A HAZMAT crew was unable to find anything unusual inside eight Fayetteville stores evacuated Wednesday afternoon after an "indescribable odor" caused several shopper to feel ill.
The stores at the Fayette Pavilion just off Ga. 85 in Fayetteville were evacuated just after 2 p.m., according to store employees at the scene. The fire department turned control of the stores back over to store managers at about 5:30 p.m., and most plan to reopen this evening.
Fayetteville fire department personnel evaluated 16 people at the scene -- six were later transported to local medical facilities with non-serious ailments including nausea, headaches and dizziness.
A HAZMAT crew on the scene gathered samples from Belk, the department store where the odor was first reported, all readings were normal, said Sgt. Bill Rieck of the Fayetteville fire department. Whatever did cause the symptoms has apparently dissipated, said Rieck. He said those suffering from symptoms could not describe the odor or associate it with anything.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/fayette/0404/29odor.html