Chemical scare closes part of Hotel Street again

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

A chemical scare at the First Insurance Company tower on Ward Avenue today triggered a hazardous materials operation and forced police to close a street near police headquarters, officials said.

Two fire companies and a battalion chief responded to the 8:22 a.m. alarm at the tower, 1100 Ward Ave., after white powder was found in the mailroom, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada.

The powder tested negative for anthrax shortly before 10 a.m., Tejada said.

Tejada said someone opened mail in the mailroom and found the white powder. The mailroom is close to the Ward Avenue side of the building.

Hazmat crews isolated the mailroom and they were testing the powder with the new field kits. Employees were kept inside the building as the tests were performed.

As a precaution, police closed the diamond head-end of Hotel Street, which is near police headquarters on South Beretania Street.

Today's chemical scare was the second near the same area this month. A scare on Nov. 2 involving a city garbage truck sent three refuse workers to nearby Straub Clinic and forced police to close Hotel Street near the main police station for nearly two hours.

The workers said they became nauseated from a chemical odor after they picked up rubbish in the McCully area, said HFD spokesman Capt. Richard Soo.

The workers drove themselves to Straub and "got better once they got away from the truck," Soo said. Soo said the chemical was probably a solvent or paint thinner.