Hazardous materials scare at Edward
September 4, 2010
By BILL BIRD
Edward Hospital in Naperville was placed on a hazardous material alert early Friday afternoon, after a plastic bottle containing an ammonia-based solution apparently exploded in the hands of a schoolgirl in unincorporated Will County near Plainfield.
The mother of the unidentified fifth-grader from Creekside Elementary School brought her daughter to the emergency room of the hospital, at 801 S. Washington St.
Preliminary reports indicated the girl and at least some emergency room personnel had been overcome by fumes or sickened by the contents of the bottle, which the girl's mother had brought into the building with her.
A "Code Orange," or hazardous situation, alert was sounded over the hospital's intercom system. Naperville Fire Department officials then sent that agency's hazardous material truck to the hospital's emergency room parking area.
Hospital spokeswoman Mary Ellen Pavlik confirmed at the scene a girl had been brought into the emergency room. The "Code Orange" alert was announced strictly as a precaution, and no patients or employees were endangered or injured during the emergency, she said.
"We're all good to go," Pavlik said. She added the girl was released from the hospital Friday afternoon after undergoing unspecified treatment.
Three fire department vehicles and a number of firefighters and paramedics remained on the scene until about 2:45 p.m. The hazardous material truck was not used during the incident.
Initial police and fire emergency radio reports indicated the bottle might have been a crudely-made "MacGyver bomb," typically concocted with acidic liquids and aluminum foil. The container can explode on its own or after being disturbed.
A fire department spokesman said he believed the bottle contained an ammonia-based chemical. Ammonia fumes can be noxious and even toxic in enclosed areas.
Creekside Elementary School is located at 13909 S. Budler Road, in an unincorporated area of Will County southeast of 135th Street and Interstate 55.
A spokesman for the Will County Sheriff's Office did not return a telephone message that sought information about the girl and the reputed bottle bomb.
Tom Hernandez, director of community relations for Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, said the Creekside student "found a plastic bottle" Friday outside the school "and proceeded to shake it." The contents "shot out of the bottle and sprayed" onto the girl, he said.
School officials called poison control and were advised to run cold water over the girl's face and arms, Hernandez said. They also telephoned the girl's mother, who then took her daughter to the hospital, he said.
"The initial report is the girl was uninjured, so that's good and we're glad for that," Hernandez said. He declined to comment further.
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