Oklahoma City Hazmat Response to Threatening Letters

Norman fire official defends response to powder
NewsOK.com - Oklahoma City,OK,USA

BY JOHNNY JOHNSON
Published: October 23, 2008

Since Oklahoma City-area Chase banks received threatening letters Monday, nearly 50 similar letters have been found in 10 states and Washington, D.C., the FBI reported.

What is absent from the new reports of letters with suspicious powder is the kind of decontamination protocol used by emergency responders at the Chase bank in Norman, where 10 employees were evacuated and hosed down.

Norman Deputy Fire Chief Jim Bailey said he can’t say why other emergency responders did not use the hazmat decontamination procedure, but there was a good reason why Norman officials did.

Four people came in contact with the letter, Bailey said, and as emergency responders were assessing the scene, a woman began to exhibit symptoms of illness, including shortness of breath.

Once that happened, Bailey said, officials couldn’t determine whether the woman was overly excited or had been contaminated with something she inhaled.

"That told us this was a viable threat, and we needed to take proper precautions,” he said. "This person was having breathing problems.”

Shortly after the woman was hospitalized, authorities determined her response was not physically related to any contaminants in the letter. Police weren’t sure if the letter contained any substance.

Bailey said it’s possible people are not reading about decontamination responses at the other locations because no one at those locations showed contamination symptoms.

Bailey said he can’t say for certain what the response would have been had the woman not shown symptoms,


Investigation continues
FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson said Wednesday more than 45 of the letters went to financial institutions, and most contained a powder, which has tested negative for contaminants.
Letters have been found in Atlanta; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Newark, N.J.; New York City; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Washington.

Letters also have been reported at two FDIC office locations.

The Associated Press reported authorities are focusing on possible suspects near Amarillo, Texas, as the single source for all the letters.