Scores evacuated as fumes close store
DANVERS --
Scores evacuated as fumes close store
By Michael Levenson and Yuxing Zheng, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
July 2, 2006
More than 60 people were taken to area hospitals yesterday, complaining of nausea, burning eyes, and shortness of breath after being exposed to an unknown, apparently airborne irritant at a Wal-Mart in Danvers, authorities said.
The emergency began with a 9 11 call at about 2:30 p.m. from someone at the store who complained about an unknown gas wafting through the air, fire officials said. Firefighters and hazardous materials teams responded, setting up a yellow tent where they sprayed exiting employees and shoppers with decontaminants.
Wal-Mart officials shut the store and evacuated everyone inside. The victims were taken to several hospitals in the area; none of their injuries were considered life threatening, authorities said.
Sergeant Carole Germano of the Danvers Fire Department said that the store's ventilation system was working at the time of the 9 11 call and that no flammable gases were detected inside the Wal-Mart. Germano said investigators were not sure what had afflicted people inside the store yesterday.
``It's just some unknown irritant," Germano said. ``They don't even know what it is right now."
Amy Campbell, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart's corporate offices in Arkansas, said the company was working with fire officials.
``The safety of our customers is our top concern and we will continue to do everything we can to provide a safe atmosphere," Campbell said.
Danvers Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Farrell said that people who were inside the store noticed the smell of gas coming from the area near the front registers. ``It's a major incident, but it's not catastrophic," Farrell said.
Helene Freitas, 47, a cashier at the Wal-Mart, was wearing an oxygen mask in the parking lot outside the store yesterday. She was taken to a hospital in Peabody, said her sister, Beverly resident Kim Mitchell .
``She was in line and she felt burning in her eyes and throat," Mitchell said. ``You see this stuff on TV, not your sister."
Chris Bartholomew, 21, of Ipswich, a Wal-Mart employee, noticed what he described as ``graininess in the air" inside the store as he was walking to the front to go outside to help a customer.
``When I was breathing in, it kind of felt like there was sand in the air and I started coughing," he said, adding that he had a scratchy throat.
Bartholomew was outside when he saw paramedics arrive at the scene. He said many people near him were coughing, and paramedics divided the dozens affected into those who had shortness of breath and those with other symptoms.
Bartholomew said he was treated in a makeshift decontamination tent outside the store before he was taken by ambulance to North Shore Medical Center in Salem. He was given oxygen, but was released after doctors determined that he had no long-lasting symptoms.
A spokeswoman at North Shore Medical Center said 19 people had been taken to the center's Salem facility and seven were treated at Union Hospital in Lynn. All 26 victims have been released.
A Beverly Hospital spokesman said the hospital had treated and released 14 people and another 11 were treated and released at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester. Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Peabody treated a dozen.
The Rev. Rick Gardner, 38, and his wife, Ruth Anne, 35, of Lynn, were among the many treated at North Shore Medical Center in Salem. They described an unnerving series of events at the store.
``We were walking in, and a woman was telling a man that there was a funny smell and someone had gotten sick," Ruth Anne Gardner said. `` As soon as you walked near the carts, there was an overwhelming scent and your nose started burning -- and the back of your throat."
They did not think much of it initially, and went to get pictures developed. But as they were getting ready to leave, employees started telling customers to leave the building.
``There wasn't any pandemonium -- they were telling everyone ` You must exit now,' and the associates were saying ` Leave! Leave!' " Rick Gardner said, adding that there were two firefighters at the registers by the door.
``We smelled it and tasted it -- you just had this very bitter taste," Ruth Anne Gardner said. She described feeling ``woozy."
The effects of the contaminant apparently hit them as they settled into their car. Rick Gardner, pastor of the First Church of Nazarene in Lynn, said his arm got very warm, tingly, and a little numb.
She was decontaminated outside the store, and he was taken by ambulance to North Shore Medical Center, where he was given oxygen. He said he was perplexed as to why customers were guided out the front door, where a concentrated form of the odor hung . He said he felt lightheaded, and watched as another ambulance passenger struggled to breathe.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. Brian Ballou and Cristina Silva of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
Scores evacuated as fumes close store
By Michael Levenson and Yuxing Zheng, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
July 2, 2006
More than 60 people were taken to area hospitals yesterday, complaining of nausea, burning eyes, and shortness of breath after being exposed to an unknown, apparently airborne irritant at a Wal-Mart in Danvers, authorities said.
The emergency began with a 9 11 call at about 2:30 p.m. from someone at the store who complained about an unknown gas wafting through the air, fire officials said. Firefighters and hazardous materials teams responded, setting up a yellow tent where they sprayed exiting employees and shoppers with decontaminants.
Wal-Mart officials shut the store and evacuated everyone inside. The victims were taken to several hospitals in the area; none of their injuries were considered life threatening, authorities said.
Sergeant Carole Germano of the Danvers Fire Department said that the store's ventilation system was working at the time of the 9 11 call and that no flammable gases were detected inside the Wal-Mart. Germano said investigators were not sure what had afflicted people inside the store yesterday.
``It's just some unknown irritant," Germano said. ``They don't even know what it is right now."
Amy Campbell, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart's corporate offices in Arkansas, said the company was working with fire officials.
``The safety of our customers is our top concern and we will continue to do everything we can to provide a safe atmosphere," Campbell said.
Danvers Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Farrell said that people who were inside the store noticed the smell of gas coming from the area near the front registers. ``It's a major incident, but it's not catastrophic," Farrell said.
Helene Freitas, 47, a cashier at the Wal-Mart, was wearing an oxygen mask in the parking lot outside the store yesterday. She was taken to a hospital in Peabody, said her sister, Beverly resident Kim Mitchell .
``She was in line and she felt burning in her eyes and throat," Mitchell said. ``You see this stuff on TV, not your sister."
Chris Bartholomew, 21, of Ipswich, a Wal-Mart employee, noticed what he described as ``graininess in the air" inside the store as he was walking to the front to go outside to help a customer.
``When I was breathing in, it kind of felt like there was sand in the air and I started coughing," he said, adding that he had a scratchy throat.
Bartholomew was outside when he saw paramedics arrive at the scene. He said many people near him were coughing, and paramedics divided the dozens affected into those who had shortness of breath and those with other symptoms.
Bartholomew said he was treated in a makeshift decontamination tent outside the store before he was taken by ambulance to North Shore Medical Center in Salem. He was given oxygen, but was released after doctors determined that he had no long-lasting symptoms.
A spokeswoman at North Shore Medical Center said 19 people had been taken to the center's Salem facility and seven were treated at Union Hospital in Lynn. All 26 victims have been released.
A Beverly Hospital spokesman said the hospital had treated and released 14 people and another 11 were treated and released at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester. Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Peabody treated a dozen.
The Rev. Rick Gardner, 38, and his wife, Ruth Anne, 35, of Lynn, were among the many treated at North Shore Medical Center in Salem. They described an unnerving series of events at the store.
``We were walking in, and a woman was telling a man that there was a funny smell and someone had gotten sick," Ruth Anne Gardner said. `` As soon as you walked near the carts, there was an overwhelming scent and your nose started burning -- and the back of your throat."
They did not think much of it initially, and went to get pictures developed. But as they were getting ready to leave, employees started telling customers to leave the building.
``There wasn't any pandemonium -- they were telling everyone ` You must exit now,' and the associates were saying ` Leave! Leave!' " Rick Gardner said, adding that there were two firefighters at the registers by the door.
``We smelled it and tasted it -- you just had this very bitter taste," Ruth Anne Gardner said. She described feeling ``woozy."
The effects of the contaminant apparently hit them as they settled into their car. Rick Gardner, pastor of the First Church of Nazarene in Lynn, said his arm got very warm, tingly, and a little numb.
She was decontaminated outside the store, and he was taken by ambulance to North Shore Medical Center, where he was given oxygen. He said he was perplexed as to why customers were guided out the front door, where a concentrated form of the odor hung . He said he felt lightheaded, and watched as another ambulance passenger struggled to breathe.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. Brian Ballou and Cristina Silva of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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