Posted on 10/13/2001 10:20:18 PM PDT by Sooner
[Tin Foil Hat meeting called to order.]
White powder mailed to 2 households... The 13 people hospitalized allowed to go home.
BY GAIL EPSTEIN NIEVES and ELAINE DE VALLE
gepstein@herald.com
A pair of apparent biohazard scares sent eight residents and five firefighters to hospitals for observation Sunday after two families in Hialeah reported receiving mysterious envelopes containing a white powder.
Authorities said the incidents appeared to be related, but the diagnosis came only at day's end after a host of fire, hospital and public health officials treated the events as the ``worst-case scenario'' terror attacks for which they train.
``That's a sick mind that would want to play that kind of hoax, if that's what it is,'' Hialeah Fire Rescue Lt. Stanley Stark said. ``They're taxing our system, and we're dealing with people's lives here.''
Laboratory tests on both powders showed they were harmless, Stark said.
He could not say, however, what the powders were.
The 13 people who were hospitalized were told they could go home late Sunday, Stark said.
``The tests they did was just to rule out anything that was lethal like anthrax or serenex or a whole list of hot biochemical hazards,'' Stark said. Nothing lethal was detected in the substances.
Two people who came in contract with the substance did have fevers and difficulty breathing as well as a burning sensation in their throats.
``There were some effects, but not long-lasting,'' Stark said.
The Miami-Dade County Health Department urged the public not to overreact.
``I don't want to have this community panicky,'' said Dr. Eleni Sfakianaki, medical director of the department.
The scare began shortly after paramedics responded to 3465 W. 13th Ave. in Hialeah at about 8:30 a.m. when a 72-year-old man reported having difficulty breathing when he opened an envelope containing a white powder Saturday.
Hialeah Fire Rescue identified the people taken to Palm Springs General Hospital from that address as Jacinto Perez, 72; Luz Digiacana, his sister-in-law, also 72; Susy Larsh, 36, his daughter; and Gregoria Rodriguez, 70, a tenant in the Perez home.
Stark said the three relatives had low-grade fevers.
They were treated with antibiotics and released after their blood tests came out negative, but they were told not to return to their house for the time being.
The tenant was not exposed to the powder but was transported to the hospital as a precaution, he said.
All four were placed in isolation.
Stark said that on Saturday, the family found in the mailbox a brown envelope containing a blank sheet of paper and the white powder.
They did not recognize the sender's name or address, he said.
``They were basically very nervous,'' Stark said. ``I'm not sure why they waited so long to call us.''
At the scene, the fire department deployed its specially outfitted hazardous materials team into the house to take the envelope and the clothing the relatives were wearing when they were exposed to the white powder, Stark said.
``We took every precaution because we didn't know what this white powder was.''
Police cordoned off the block for several hours, and Fire Rescue told Perez's neighbors to stay inside with their windows shut until they got the all-clear.
SECOND SCARE
The second scare was reported at about 4 p.m. when another letter ``similar in size and color'' to the first and also containing white powder was reported by a family of four living at 1410 W. 41st St., about eight blocks away, Stark said. No names were released.
Stark said that when the father went outside to put the letter in the garbage on Sunday, ``there was a minor explosion, and a white powder came out of the letter.''
The man felt a minor burn and irritation on his right hand where it came in contact with the powder, Stark said.
The man then went into his apartment, potentially contaminating his family and eventually the paramedics who entered the apartment to treat him.
Stark said a husband and wife, both 42, and their two daughters, ages 14 and 18, were transported to North Shore Medical Center.
Three firefighters were sent to Palmetto General Hospital and two more to Hialeah Hospital.
All of them were placed in isolation and were awaiting blood test results.
Stark said the fire department evacuated the floor and the hazardous materials team was again on the scene.
In the meantime, Stark urged people who get suspicious envelopes or packages to stop before opening them.
``Put it in a plastic bag and give us a call until we can figure out the best way to handle the situation,'' Stark said.
First, wasn't Atta and a friend seen in a pharmacy, one with irritated skin and the other with a chest cold?
Second, when the facts above occurred, there was only one confirmed anthrax case in Florida...IMHO too early to be a copy cat hoax. No one was even sure of how the first case occurred!
Third, how can they not know what the powder was after testing it? That makes no sense. I know science is advanced enough to test a substance and determine its identity.
I know, my hat is probably on a little too tight.
Ok, throw your cyber-rocks and stone the Sooner. I made my hat with extra layers of foil for protection!
cheese.
Regarding "overboard," my tinfoil suit continues to protect me from all harm. Good thing I put on all this white powder I found at the bus terminal before I built this suit. The chafing, the humanity!
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