CHEMICAL SCARE RULED FALSE ALARM

Suspicious Substance Used For Photo Finishing

Rather than creating an explosion, the suspicious chemicals and equipment
discovered Tuesday at the Salvation Army Community Centre had the potential
to create a Kodak moment.

The materials that caused the evacuation of the centre and its hostel
residents -- resulting in several people going through a decontamination
process -- are actually used for developing photographs.

The containers were similar in appearance to those found in clandestine lab
operations, such as for crystal meth production, said city police
spokesperson Alyson Edwards.

Ironically, a weekly Narcotics Anonymous meeting scheduled to be held at
the centre that evening had to be cancelled as the facility on Avenue C and
19th Street was shut down for nearly 12 hours.

"If you look at the potential danger that existed for a large-scale
emergency, the appropriate response was taken," Edwards said.

"The toxic properties of meth chemicals could do a lot of damage to anyone
who breathed them. And of course, the potential exists for an explosion
because the chemicals are so volatile.

"That made this a situation where not only the residents could be affected
but an entire section of the city. We were fortunate that turned out to not
be the case."

But there was no way to determine that immediately. The resident of the
room, a federal parolee, had fled the facility a week earlier, according to
Capt. Bruce Mac Kenzie, the Salvation Army's provincial spokesperson.

A security person noticed the man behaving unusually last week.

That prompted a search of the room, which uncovered some contraband items.
Drugs and drug paraphernalia are not allowed in the hostel.

"He's on parole, so that would have been a breach. So he got scared and
fled," said Mac Kenzie, whose office informed the area parole office about
the man's disappearance.

"Once that happened, it ceased to be an urgent matter for us."

The room was sealed so the man's belonging could be packed up but Salvation
Army policy requires two employees to be in the room in order to prevent
accusations of theft.

It took a week to find two people with enough free time to do the job, said
Mac Kenzie.

Employees came across the chemicals and equipment during packing on
Tuesday. Neither person knew what it was so the police were called, said
Mac Kenzie.

Not wanting to take any chances, the gamut of emergency personnel were
brought to the scene, including Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services'
hazardous materials unit, the Saskatoon police explosive disposal unit and
remote-operated robot, the Saskatchewan clandestine lab team, police
identification unit, public health, MD Ambulance and Saskatchewan Environment.

Saskatoon transit staff also arrived to transport the 34 people who were
decontaminated and evacuated.

Tests of the facility's air quality were performed, and surface swabs and
further air quality tests were done in the man's room.

The tests came back negative for any hazardous substances.

A chemist with the clandestine lab team further determined the materials
were not for meth production.

The facility was turned back over to the Salvation Army personnel at about
2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

By that time, residents had been given accommodations elsewhere for the night.

Of those, 12 were federal offenders residing in the halfway house portion
of the facility.

They were moved to the Meewasinota halfway house around the corner on 20th
Street and Avenue B.

All residents were given breakfast at their temporary shelters. Salvation
Army staff used the morning to get replacement clothing for residents hosed
down during the decontamination process.

A resident who bolted from the building on his bicycle Tuesday before being
chased down by a police officer and brought back in handcuffs had nothing
to do with the chemical scare, said Mac Kenzie, who is based in Regina.

The man was released from police custody later Tuesday night.