Chemical Emergency Over in Northumberland County
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Monday, October 3, UPDATED: 5:37 p.m.
By Norm Jones
Officials in Northumberland County thought they had a chemical leak on their hands Monday morning. They locked down schools and told homeowners to stay inside their homes with the windows closed.
After hours of investigating, the problem just seemed to drift away.
County emergency officials got complaints of a strong chemical odor in several communities including Sunbury and Upper Augusta Township. Just before noon, fire trucks from the Sunbury area prepared for the worst, and rolled into place to try to find the source of a chemical odor in the area.
"When we first arrived we saw some haze in the area," said Upper Augusta Township Fire Chief Chris Herb. He said the odor smelled like chlorine, a dangerous chemical.
"We called local power plants, local nuke plants, water treatment plants, sewage plants, anything we could think of that would emit something like that," Herb added.
The call prompted emergency responders to shut down streets near the odor. The nearby Chief Shikellamy Elementary School was locked down as a precaution. Residents were told to stay indoors with the windows closed and air conditioners off.
Rebecca DePinto of Sunbury saw the warning on WNEP-TV. She's glad responders treated it seriously. "Better to be safe inside than not know what it is," she said.
"I think we were doing it to cover our bases, make sure if there was a release everyone was protected. We'd rather be safe than sorry anymore," CHief Herb agreed.
After more than two hours of investigating, responders couldn't pin point it's source. They gathered afterwards to talk about the emergency response, calling the effort a success.
After getting so many complaints about the smell. Crews were really stumped when then couldn't find the cause.
One fire chief suggested it could have been mother nature shifting some strange odors around the Sunbury area.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
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Isn't this the third case of odd smells reported recently? One in LA, one in Seattle I think??
If they had looked up at the right time, they might have seen a crop duster airplane.
Entirely too many strange smells lately for my tastes...
Thank you for posting this one.
In the past few days, I have read of chemical, odd odors noticed in different places around the country.
In Salem, South Dakota, the residents of a small apartment building reported a noxious odor this past weekend. Five of those residents wound up in the hospital. One elderly woman died. Still no official determination of what they were exposed to. Investigation ongoing.