HAZMAT Evacuation

On Thursday, February 19th at about 1:00 p.m. over 1,000 employees were evacuated from University of Phoenix where I work. Apparently, someone had sent an envelope to one of the Counselors on the 3rd floor containing a white powder substance with a threatening letter. According to a witness who was near the area where it happened, when the letter was opened, the employee was complaining about breathing problems. The fire department, FBI, Haz-mat & police department were immediately contacted and the entire building was evacuated.

We stayed in the parking lot for about an hour and a half before they finally told us we could leave, but we were not allowed to go back into the building to get our personal belongings. Luckily I had my keys and most of my stuff with me.

Investigators said that the powder doesn't appear to be hazardous, but more testing needed to be done to determine what it was. No further information has been released. We were allowed to return to work the next day, because the Haz-mat crew cleaned up & sterilized the area on the 3rd floor where the substance was found. It was quite an eventful day!

A co-worker took some pictures but I didn't have my camera. I will see if I can get some pics to post on here.