Pearl City High anthrax scare likely hoax
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By Mike Gordon, Brandon Masuoka and Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writers
A flurry of calls kept firefighters busy investigating reports of powdery substances today, from a mysterious substance found at Pearl City High School to a 5-pound bag in a Salt Lake intersection.
There were no cases of anthrax confirmed, just more jittery nerves among people who found unusual, unexpected parcels and letters, said Oahu Civil Defense spokesman John Cummings.
"We need to calm down, get some common sense," he said today. "It is good that people are being aware, but we also have to temper that with common sense."
Pearl City principal Gerald Suyama said the white power that was found in front of a classroom and in a stairwell at about 8:30 a.m. turned out to be baking powder and powdered sugar.
Suyama said a student sprinked the power as a prank. He said the student will be disclipined, but he would not say describe the discipline that would be imposed.
The prank paralyzed the school this morning and forced hazmat teams to investigate the campus.
“We closed the school down,” Suyama said. “The students were kept in the classrooms, just as a precaution for us.”
Calls for Honolulu Fire Department hazardous material crews had tapered off yesterday to 12 from 27 on Monday, said Capt. Richard Soo, fire department spokesman.
But this morning, Soo said, the calls brought a different sense of urgency: They were coming from busy hospitals, the Hawaiian Electric downtown power plant and Pearl City High.
At Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, a white powdery substance was found on the conference table in a sixth-floor conference room this morning, with "anthrax" written on a nearby bulletin board, Soo said.
And at the Queen's Medical Center, firefighters picked up a suspicious envelope, Soo said.
Authorities also were trying to decipher a paper written in a foreign language that was left by several restaurant customers acting suspiciously in the Outback Steakhouse near Ala Moana last night, police said.
Mayor Jeremy Harris unveiled new city equipment today which can tell if there is truly anthrax in the air or on the ground within fifteen minutes.
Harris said he ordered a dozen of the machines on Sept. 11 because he anticipated the U. S. would counter-attack for terrorist strikes that day, and that terrorists would respond with biological and chemical agents of mass destruction, hitting at the point of greatest vulnerability.
Also yesterday, a 35-year-old Ewa Beach woman was taken to the hospital after she complained of sickness after opening a free computer disk that arrived in the mail.
Police said she complained of nasal and throat irritation after opening a free America Online disk. She called 911 and was taken to the hospital and treated for anxiety. The disk was examined by the Honolulu Fire Department's hazardous materials unit and found not to be contaminated.
Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating as a federal offense the delivery of a mysterious powder at the Coral Creek Golf Course in 'Ewa yesterday. The envelope contained a message saying anyone who opened it would be in danger.
To cope with the onslaught of calls, HFD yesterday created two hazardous materials assessment teams made up of six firefighters working 12 hours a day.
Soo said the teams, made up of firefighters volunteering for the assignment, would respond to cases in which there was a suspicion but no material had been opened or exposed.
About 183 of the department's 1,100 personnel have the needed training in hazardous materials, Soo said.
Discoveries yesterday included a plastic bag of powder on the floor of the Satellite City Hall at Ala Moana Center. More common were mysterious packages or smells, the latter usually turning out to be mosquito insecticide sprayed to prevent dengue fever.
