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MWFF Chlorine Incident
11 years ago
General
I'm going to write a fuller report on MWFF at some point, but I had the following in my buffer so I thought I'd cover it off now as there's a lot of interest.
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The following information is truthful to the best of my knowledge, based on official statements made by the convention or things that I witnessed first hand. I was staying in room 372 in the west tower - the stairwell in question was immediately outside my room.
Some time before 00:45 on Sunday quantity of powder containing chlorine was released in to the West stairwell, with the majority of it settling on the intermediate landing between floors 9 and 10. It began to decompose, releasing chlorine gas in to the hotel.
A number of people on the upper floors complained of a strong chlorine smell in the vicinity of the stairwell. Some reported respiratory problems and other symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine. The hotel called 911 and first-responders discovered the chlorine powder in the stairwell. A full-scale evacuation of the hotel commenced shortly after 01:00 (I'd been asleep for roughly half an hour).
Initially we were evacuated to Bryn Mawr Ave, which is the street outside the hotel. It was very cold - around 0°C - and most people weren't able to pick up warm clothes on the way out. Some fursuiters helped to keep freezing attendees warm. During this time more emergency services arrived, including the fire departments hazardous chemicals unit.
After nearly an hour we were gradually moved in to the convention centre across the street from the hotel. The MWFF staff had managed to regroup and organise themselves by this point and were directing us out of the cold. Some information also started to flow from the MidwestFurFest Twitter account, which was useful as there was no direct means of public address.
We were held in the convention centre for quite a while as Rosemont PD needed to collect evidence before clean-up could be finished. By 04:25 I was back in the hotel, heading for my bed.
19 people were taken to hospital during the incident, but not all of those were as a result of chlorine exposure: at least two (that I witnessed) were secondary issues arising from being evacuated in the middle of the night. Of those 19 people, 18 were released from hospital later that day.
It is not yet known whether the powder came to be in the stairwell as a result of malicious action, however Rosemont PD believe that it was possibly an intentional act and have opened a criminal investigation.
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The following information is truthful to the best of my knowledge, based on official statements made by the convention or things that I witnessed first hand. I was staying in room 372 in the west tower - the stairwell in question was immediately outside my room.
Some time before 00:45 on Sunday quantity of powder containing chlorine was released in to the West stairwell, with the majority of it settling on the intermediate landing between floors 9 and 10. It began to decompose, releasing chlorine gas in to the hotel.
A number of people on the upper floors complained of a strong chlorine smell in the vicinity of the stairwell. Some reported respiratory problems and other symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine. The hotel called 911 and first-responders discovered the chlorine powder in the stairwell. A full-scale evacuation of the hotel commenced shortly after 01:00 (I'd been asleep for roughly half an hour).
Initially we were evacuated to Bryn Mawr Ave, which is the street outside the hotel. It was very cold - around 0°C - and most people weren't able to pick up warm clothes on the way out. Some fursuiters helped to keep freezing attendees warm. During this time more emergency services arrived, including the fire departments hazardous chemicals unit.
After nearly an hour we were gradually moved in to the convention centre across the street from the hotel. The MWFF staff had managed to regroup and organise themselves by this point and were directing us out of the cold. Some information also started to flow from the MidwestFurFest Twitter account, which was useful as there was no direct means of public address.
We were held in the convention centre for quite a while as Rosemont PD needed to collect evidence before clean-up could be finished. By 04:25 I was back in the hotel, heading for my bed.
19 people were taken to hospital during the incident, but not all of those were as a result of chlorine exposure: at least two (that I witnessed) were secondary issues arising from being evacuated in the middle of the night. Of those 19 people, 18 were released from hospital later that day.
It is not yet known whether the powder came to be in the stairwell as a result of malicious action, however Rosemont PD believe that it was possibly an intentional act and have opened a criminal investigation.
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"Some fursuiters helped to keep freezing attendees warm." Just... aw. <3
And I really hope they find the idiot who did that and make sure that person wont do something like that again >.<
I heard some furries relaxed at the spill off hotels.