There I was, tapping away on my workplace computer early in the morning, when we were all told to grab our bags and coats and evacuate the building. A suspicious powder had been found inside an envelope in the mail room. Then the fire alarm came on. Well, that certainly got all the staff moving quickly. Several fire engines and police cars were parked on the roadside with their lights flashing. Further down the road we could see several ambulances waiting. This sort of threat is taken very seriously.
The firemen worked methodically. We watched as they suited up in their HazMat suits before entering the building to check out the worrying find. They looked rather like a group of yellow clad space travellers.
The remaining firemen roped of a portion of the road. They then lifted out a portable shower from the HazMat Breathing Apparatus Tender. This was set up in the roped off area and a hose attached to the fittings. We all hoped that they didn’t expect the staff to run through this cold shower.
Luckily it wasn’t for us after all. When the yellow clad firemen finally left the building they all took turns standing under the fast flowing cold water.
The staff were given regular updates from a nice friendly policeman. We were told that the suspicious powder had been taken away for testing, and was found to be unthreatening. After almost 2 hours of standing around we were allowed back inside. Just as well it was a nice sunny, if rather cool, winter’s day. Everyone needed a cuppa after all that excitement.
No comments:
Post a Comment