Powder-Laced Envelope Prompts Evacuations

SAN DIEGO -- An employee at a Kaiser Permanente office building in Kearny Mesa reported being exposed to some type of white powder that fell out of an envelope Monday, prompting an evacuation of part of the facility.

The worker made an emergency call to report the incident about 12:30 p.m, saying she had felt a burning sensation after the substance made contact with her skin, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

She and several colleagues who believed they also might have been exposed to a dangerous chemical drove themselves to Kaiser Foundation Hospital in the Allied Gardens area, SDFRD spokesman Maurice Luque said.

Authorities then evacuated the first floor of the Murphy Canyon Road administrative facility and put the hospital in a lockdown status as a precaution.

A search of the office complex turned up no sign of the suspect envelope -- which reportedly had been discarded in a trash can there -- or any hazardous materials, Luque said.

Five of the workers who may have been exposed to the substance, several of whom said they were experiencing minor respiratory problems, were quarantined along with 20 others who came near them at the hospital. Many or all of them were expected to undergo decontamination procedures.

After a hazardous materials team searched the office building, authorities gave an all-clear to fully reopen it, Kaiser public information officer Casey Hart said.

No one was allowed to enter or leave the hospital for about 45 minutes, until shortly before 3 p.m., according to Hart.

The FBI will investigate the incident, Luque said.