Powder prompts hazmat response
Material that cleared library found to be cleaning product, officials say
A suspicious white powder— later determined to be a nontoxic cleaning product—found under one of the computers at the Stevenson Ranch Library prompted the evacuation of the building Thursday morning.
About a dozen employees made their way out of the building after the unidentified powder was discovered.
About an hour after hazmat crews arrived at the scene and received confirmation that the powder was a “non-toxic cleaning product” employees were allowed back into the building, a Los Angeles County Fire
Department spokesman told The Signal late Thursday afternoon.
“They found white powder under a computer desk,” a Fire Department spokesman told The Signal earlier in the day.
Hazardous Materials units were called to the Stevenson Ranch Library on McBean Parkway and The Old Road Thursday morning.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., a hazmat unit, a health hazmat unit and at least one ambulance were called to the 25900 block of the The Old Road.
“It’s under investigation,” a Fire Department spokesman told The Signal when asked initially to describe the concern over hazardous materials.
“Workers were outside the building,” the spokesman said referring to the library.
The incident happened at 10:28 a.m. Thursday, with firefighters arriving at the scene at 10:33 a.m.
Shortly after firefighters arrived, they requested hazmat unit No. 150, described by a Fire Department spokesman as “the big” hazmat truck.
There were no injuries reported. An ambulance was requested as a precautionary measure.