Suspicious White Powder Sent to 3 U.N. Missions

Decontamination centers have been set up outside the French And Austrian Missions, as well as the Uzbekistan Consulate near the United Nations in response to the discovery of  letters containing a suspicious white powder at each location.

Authorities are investigating some suspicious letters containing white powder that were sent to three foreign-government missions to the United Nations in Manhattan.Letters arrived at the missions of Uzbekistan, Austria, and France Monday, police said.At the Uzbekistan mission, on 2nd Avenue, two people were decontaminated as a precaution.

Eight people at the Austrian mission, on 3rd Avenue, were decontaminated. Meantime, at the French mission, on 2nd Avenue, 15 people were decontaminated, the NYPD said.Preliminary tests on the powder sent to the Uzbekistan mission came back negative for anthrax or any other dangerous substance, the NYPD said.All three envelopes had Dallas postmarks, the AP reported.No one was hurt, police said, and the missions weren’t evacuated. The NYPD and the FBI are investigating.

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2 Dead, Other’s Hospitalized at Sweat Lodge in Sedona Arizona

Fox News is reporting two people have died and several other sare being hospitalized after becoming mysteriously ill in a sauna-like sweat lodge at an Sedona Arizona resort.

From Fox News

Three people had heart attacks and about 21 in all were treated for injuries after being sickened Thursday night at the Angel Valley Sweat Lodge in Sedona. Two died.

The resort is next to GOP Sen. John McCain’s ranch, according to MyFOXPhoenix.

Emergency crews responded about 5 p.m. Thursday to a hazardous materials situation at the sauna, the station said. Three patients were reportedly suffering cardiac arrest when ambulances and a helicopter arrived.

About 50 people were in a “sweatbox” type of structure when they were overcome at the resort, which provides Native American-style spiritual retreats, Yavapai County sheriff’s spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn said Friday.

via Source.

Cyanide Suspected In Sickening 7 L.A. Firefighters

As the fire and homicide investigation continues, officials say several firefighters were exposed to cyanide gas in two separate incidents as they were mopping up hot spots near the small city of Acton on the northern edge of the massive blaze.

The poisonous cyanide fumes are suspected in acute breathing problems suffered by Los Angeles firefighters battling the Station Fire in the Aliso Canyon. One firefighters suffered life-threatening respiratory arrest and remains in hospital after she was knocked out by noxious fumes on Sept. 1 near Acton.

Two days later, six firefighters suffered severe breathing difficulties in another part of the Aliso Canyon.

“On Sept. 1, a firefighter working on the Station Fire in the Aliso Canyon area of Acton was overcome by noxious fumes,” said the Los Angeles County Fire department. “The firefighter suffered respiratory arrest and was taken to a local medical facility for further treatment and evaluation.”

The firefighter remains in hospital.

“On Sept. 3, six firefighters were transported to a local hospital after being overwhelmed by unknown fumes in a different part of Aliso Canyon. The firefighters were treated and released,” said a statement.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department HAZMAT unit responded to the two separate areas of Aliso Canyon to investigate the cause of the respiratory illnesses,” officials said.

After examining the sites, the Sheriff’s HAZMAT personnel detected trace cyanide concentration of 48 parts per million in the Alison Canyon area.

“In the area where the six firefighters were injured, the Sheriff’s HAZMAT unit found smoldering spots of fire, but no contamination traces of chemicals. The HAZMAT unit also found galvanized materials, baling wire, cans and bottles.

“During the investigation and rehabilitation, the sites of both the inhalation injuries have been cordoned off and secured.

Medical personnel have been advised of the Sheriff’s HAZMAT unit findings,” said a press release issued in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Authorities do not have an idea where the cyanide came from.

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From The Los Angeles Times

Officials said 10 firefighters had been taken to a hospital in two separate incidents, in which it appears they had stumbled upon hazardous materials. At one of those sites, health officials detected cyanide and one firefighter remains in the hospital. Officials are still not sure where the cyanide came from.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has said investigators are probing the deaths as homicides. A source told The Times that “material that didn’t belong there” has been found at the site suspected to be where the fire started, a twice-scorched slope cordoned off by crime scene tape near Mile Marker 29 along Angeles Crest Highway.

The source would not identify the suspicious substance but said it was found in the brush off the highway, within walking distance of the turnoff at the center of the arson probe. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was an ongoing investigation, said the substance was taken to a lab for testing. The material is not a device, according to the source.

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Ricin Scare Prompts Hazmat Response

A Hazmat team responded this afternoon when police found what appeared to be ricin in an Everett Washington home at 1208 50th Street SW.

The situation started out as an alleged domestic violence assault. The 43-year-old victim was hospitalized, and an FBI spokesperson says after she got out, she discovered the hazardous materials and reported them to police.

Everett police recognized that the materials could be ricin, according to the FBI, and the scene was contained.

Hazmat crews said they found both the components to make ricin along with what appears to be the finished product in an office in the home.

The domestic violence suspect, the woman’s 46-year-old husband, is being hospitalized and will be taken into custody.

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The FBI says this is not a terrorism-related incident.

While even the tiniest bit of ricin can be deadly, you have to be in very close contact with the toxin in order for it to get in your bloodstream.

For this reason, the FBI says the incident is not a public health threat. No homes have been evacuated.

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Police Investigate Large Hazardous Materials Shipment To Home

Deputies are continuing to investigate bomb making materials that were discovered at a Santa Cruz home Tuesday night causing police to evacuate nearly 40 homes. According to deputies, a large shipment of hazardous materials was delivered to a home on 25th Avenue in Santa Cruz Tuesday afternoon.

Sheriff deputies blocked off the 200 block of East Cliff Drive and the nearby streets in a 300-foot radius of that home. A search warrant was issued overnight and deputies were able to search the house. Police have arrested the man inside the home where the explosives were delivered; he was under the influence of a controlled substance. People in the neighborhood were able to return home early Wednesday morning. Deputies said they are not sure if it’s the company that shipped the materials.

“Well, obviously, our bomb technicians will go in the there to retrieve the material, discover what’s there in the event there’s an explosive. Obviously we want to clear the area,” said Sergeant Dan Campos of Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday night.

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Hydrogen Cyanide Found In UNL Dorm Room

One floor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Pound Hall was evacuated and the rest of the dorm put on lockdown for an hour and a half Sunday evening after police discovered potentially lethal hydrogen cyanide in a student’s room.

Just after 6 p.m., UNL police responded to a 911 call alerting them of a possible overdose poisoning, according to Capt. Carl Oestmann.

The call came from a 19-year-old UNL student living on the second floor of Pound Hall who had ingested a small amount of the chemical. Oestmann wouldn’t say exactly how much the student ingested or in what form, whether gas or liquid.

Within minutes of the 911 call, UNL police and the Lincoln Fire Department, including the department’s hazardous materials unit, were on the scene. Officers evacuated Pound’s second floor and put the rest of the dorm on lockdown, not wanting any student coming or going during a potentially dangerous situation, Oestmann said.

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Hospitals Locked Down, 2 Dead In East St. Louis Hazmat Incident – Chemical Exposure

Eight to ten people are hospitalized around the St. Louis area after being exposed to some type of hazardous chemical or material. At least two people are very critical condition.

St. Anthony’s Hospital in South County and DePaul Hospital in West County both shut down their emergency rooms when victims showed up with blue skin. Read more