Dangerous Goods Incidents Over: Preliminary Tests Identify Baking Soda & Talcum

Following an aggressive response to a perceived public safety threat, emergency responders are confident there is no community danger; the substances in question were identified as common baking soda and talcum powder.  The matter is now the subject of a police investigation.

Fire Chief Morgan Hackl says emergency workers can’t take any chances.

“We have to approach it with diligence, we have to go through all the proper steps,” Hackl says.  “Whether it’s a malicious call or not, we can’t take that into account – we have to take the due course and take it seriously.”

Saskatoon Emergency Measures Organization, Saskatoon Fire Department, Saskatoon Police Service, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment as well as Saskatchewan Emergency Management and Fire Safety were involved in a response to five dangerous goods calls.

Starting around 12:30 p.m. and for a period of about two hours, emergency crews went to three addresses along Fourth Avenue and two more near Cynthia Street and Avenue C North.

For the remainder of the afternoon and into the early evening, the job of hazardous materials specialists was to identify the suspicious substance, neutralize it, and remove it from the affected area.  This process was successfully completed at all five locations.

Preliminary testing of the substance points strongly in the direction of a non-harmful powder: talcum powder was detected in one location, sodium bicarbonate, more commonly known as baking soda was identified in four locations.

“Sodium bicarbonate is just a standard everyday product that people can find in their homes, there’s no danger to it,” Chief Hackl says.

The samples collected will then be sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg for final testing.

City officials activated the Emergency Operations Centre with a command post set up in the mobile unit and later in a public office building. 

Over 60 emergency personnel responded to the calls Tuesday afternoon.