cheka.
13th April 2016, 07:10 PM
strange story..
http://patch.com/texas/downtownaustin/hazmat-crews-evacuate-university-texas-austin-student-housing
University Of Texas-Austin Student Housing Evacuated Following Possible Suicide-By-Chemicals [UPDATED]
Hydrogen sulfide believed to be used for man's suicide death results in the hospitalization of six other residents.
AUSTIN, TX -- Austin Fire Department crews were called to a University of Texas-Austin student housing complex, 21 Pearl, Wednesday afternoon after reports of potentially leaked hazardous materials.
An assistant chief at the Austin Fire Department said the chemical hydrogen sulfide was found to be the source of a the foul odor at about 3 p.m. that prompted the building's evacuation. EMS officials found a man in cardiac arrest after it is believed he used the chemical hydrogen sulfide -- known commonly as "sewer gas" to commit suicide.
"Crews were alerted there might be a toxic environment they were entering," Battalion Chief Palmer Buck said. "Crews did find an approximately 20-year-old male in cardiac arrest they removed. Resuscitation efforts were started."
But efforts to revive the man were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Buck said.
Concurrently, emergency officials sought to evacuate the building of residents still inside, the chief said.
"Crews went door to door, floor to floor," he said. "We did find levels -- low levels," he said of the hydrogen sulfide. "A lot of people call it sewer gas; it's often used in chemical suicide. Whether that is what happened here is still under investigation, but the warning signs certainly clue us into that."
Austin-Travis County EMS official Eric Jakubauskas said six people were hospitalized after they were overcome by the chemical fumes, although they are expected to recover. Six people were felled by the fumes -- three men and three women -- ranging in ages from their 20s to their 40s, Jakubauskas said.
Two female victims were transported to University Medical Center-Brackenridge in stable condition, Jakubauskas said. Another man declined treatment.
The apartment complex located at the corner of West 21st and Pearl streets is largely populated by students attending UT-Austin. Many of those students stood outside their homes waiting to be given the go-ahead to re-enter, but officials at the scene didn't know when that might occur.
Some students expressed concern they weren't immediately notified via a forum of immediacy such as a phone text or call. Instead, the chosen forum to alert residents seems to have been the private Facebook page for the apartment complex.
"I was sending everyone text messages until the Fire Department kicked me out of the office," one apartment officials wrote on the Facebook page. "There is only so much we can do. We walked around the building twice and knocked on every door to evacuate."
Students waiting outside said some 300 to 400 residents live in the building.
Brian Gillespie, a second-year business student, wasn't home when the leak occurred. But he expressed concern he hadn't been notified in some other way -- especially given he doesn't use Facebook -- instead of having to learn of the incident as he came across the emergency vehicles parked outside.
"I was surprised they didn't try to reach us," Gillespie, who moved into the building in the fall, said. But he added he feels lucky the timing of his class prevented his being there at the time of the chemical leak: "I didn't smell anything," he said.
Gillespie said he hopes to be able to re-enter his apartment soon in order to study for a test scheduled for tomorrow.
Jacob Hood, a third-year business student, was one level below the fourth floor where the leak is said to have occurred.
"At first, it smelled like rotten eggs," he said. Some 10 or 15 minutes later, he knew it was something more menacing as mass evacuations began.
Phan Nguyen, a 3rd-year student studying Chinese, was home at the time and was alerted by a friend via text. She expressed sadness over the death of the young man who she didn't know personally but was nonetheless a neighbor.
"It's just hard to say anything," she said. "It's sad he couldn't get the help he needed."
http://patch.com/texas/downtownaustin/hazmat-crews-evacuate-university-texas-austin-student-housing
University Of Texas-Austin Student Housing Evacuated Following Possible Suicide-By-Chemicals [UPDATED]
Hydrogen sulfide believed to be used for man's suicide death results in the hospitalization of six other residents.
AUSTIN, TX -- Austin Fire Department crews were called to a University of Texas-Austin student housing complex, 21 Pearl, Wednesday afternoon after reports of potentially leaked hazardous materials.
An assistant chief at the Austin Fire Department said the chemical hydrogen sulfide was found to be the source of a the foul odor at about 3 p.m. that prompted the building's evacuation. EMS officials found a man in cardiac arrest after it is believed he used the chemical hydrogen sulfide -- known commonly as "sewer gas" to commit suicide.
"Crews were alerted there might be a toxic environment they were entering," Battalion Chief Palmer Buck said. "Crews did find an approximately 20-year-old male in cardiac arrest they removed. Resuscitation efforts were started."
But efforts to revive the man were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Buck said.
Concurrently, emergency officials sought to evacuate the building of residents still inside, the chief said.
"Crews went door to door, floor to floor," he said. "We did find levels -- low levels," he said of the hydrogen sulfide. "A lot of people call it sewer gas; it's often used in chemical suicide. Whether that is what happened here is still under investigation, but the warning signs certainly clue us into that."
Austin-Travis County EMS official Eric Jakubauskas said six people were hospitalized after they were overcome by the chemical fumes, although they are expected to recover. Six people were felled by the fumes -- three men and three women -- ranging in ages from their 20s to their 40s, Jakubauskas said.
Two female victims were transported to University Medical Center-Brackenridge in stable condition, Jakubauskas said. Another man declined treatment.
The apartment complex located at the corner of West 21st and Pearl streets is largely populated by students attending UT-Austin. Many of those students stood outside their homes waiting to be given the go-ahead to re-enter, but officials at the scene didn't know when that might occur.
Some students expressed concern they weren't immediately notified via a forum of immediacy such as a phone text or call. Instead, the chosen forum to alert residents seems to have been the private Facebook page for the apartment complex.
"I was sending everyone text messages until the Fire Department kicked me out of the office," one apartment officials wrote on the Facebook page. "There is only so much we can do. We walked around the building twice and knocked on every door to evacuate."
Students waiting outside said some 300 to 400 residents live in the building.
Brian Gillespie, a second-year business student, wasn't home when the leak occurred. But he expressed concern he hadn't been notified in some other way -- especially given he doesn't use Facebook -- instead of having to learn of the incident as he came across the emergency vehicles parked outside.
"I was surprised they didn't try to reach us," Gillespie, who moved into the building in the fall, said. But he added he feels lucky the timing of his class prevented his being there at the time of the chemical leak: "I didn't smell anything," he said.
Gillespie said he hopes to be able to re-enter his apartment soon in order to study for a test scheduled for tomorrow.
Jacob Hood, a third-year business student, was one level below the fourth floor where the leak is said to have occurred.
"At first, it smelled like rotten eggs," he said. Some 10 or 15 minutes later, he knew it was something more menacing as mass evacuations began.
Phan Nguyen, a 3rd-year student studying Chinese, was home at the time and was alerted by a friend via text. She expressed sadness over the death of the young man who she didn't know personally but was nonetheless a neighbor.
"It's just hard to say anything," she said. "It's sad he couldn't get the help he needed."