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Powdered substance at Santa Ana Federal Building prompts evacuations

by in News

A hazardous materials team decontaminated several people who came into contact with an unknown powdered substance and evacuated others from the Federal Building in Santa Ana Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Authorities were notified of the substance at about 2 p.m., and dispatched to the government building near the 700 block of West Santa Ana Boulevard, Orange County Fire Authority Captain Tony Bommarito said. Everyone on the third floor was evacuated, and those on different levels were instructed to take shelter as firefighters and federal agents conducted an investigation.

Authorities could not immediately verify what substance was involved in the incident, Bommarito said. Details regarding how people were exposed to it were not immediately released, however those who were did not exhibit any symptoms Tuesday afternoon. They were taken to a nearby hospitals for evaluation, but did not appear to have been harmed.

“We’re not 100 percent positive what it was, but everything came back negative as toxic and dangerous,” Bommarito said shortly before 6 p. m.

Earlier, police blocked off streets surrounding the building as agents from the Department of Homeland Security and FBI searched for clues in the area, Bommarito said. An Orange County Sheriff’s bomb squad was also summoned, but only as a precaution.

“Because this is a federal building, we don’t know what the substance is, so we are taking all the precautions just in case,” Bommarito told reporters at the scene. “We have no credible threat. There are no symptoms that the patients are exhibiting right now. Everything we are doing is purely investigation and precaution.”

City News Service contributed to this report.