Local law enforcement, emergency response teams and a hazardous materials squad were dispatched to the Meeman Journalism building at The University of Memphis after a white powdery substance was found on a third floor water fountain Tuesday night.
Sonja Luecke, a journalism graduate student at The U of M, called campus police around 5:50 p.m. Tuesday after noticing the powder as she drank from the fountain.
Luecke said she feared the substance could be anthrax, the biological agent that has spawned a nationwide scare following multiple cases of anthrax exposure, which have been reported in Washington, New York, and Florida.
“It freaked me out, no doubt,” said Luecke. “I don’t think I would have been so worried if I wouldn’t have been so close to it. “
A U of M police officer arrived roughly 40 minutes after the initial call was placed, but apparently left the area after washing some of the substance down the fountain’s drain.
“Someone from security came and told us not to worry because he washed the substance down the drain,” Lueke said.
However, Lueke said she returned to the fountain a short time later and found the substance was still covering the front rim of the fountain.
Lueke then made a second call to authorities and emergency teams were dispatched to the scene.
At 6:50 p.m., local campus authorities activated the building’s alarm and quickly evacuated the building.
Students filed out of the building thinking it was an ordinary fire drill, but some became concerned as rescue personnel arriving on the scene immediately quarantined the area and asked people who were in the building to remain in the area.
Students and faculty anxiously milled outside the building as their names and phone numbers were taken by authorities as a precautionary measure.
Shortly after, hazardous material squads wearing rubber suits and state emergency management personnel arrived on the scene and evaluated the substance.
“We have to take all of this very seriously and carefully,” said Bill Geyer, a hazardous materials team member.
The substance was collected and the area was sanitized, but officials sustained the building’s quarantined lockdown until late Tuesday evening.
Authorities said the substance will be sent to an FBI lab in Jackson, Tenn., for testing and will know if the substance tested positive for anthrax in three to four days.
However, Michael Putt, a Memphis Fire Department lieutenant, said the substance did not appear to be anthrax.
“It looked like a cleaning powder,” Putt said.
Putt added that anthrax in powder form is an off-white creamy color.
While some students seemed to be annoyed at the prospect of leaving belongings in the building overnight, many said safety should come first.
“Paranoia is annoying, but it saves lives,” said Jacob Fletcher, a student who was evacuated from the building.
David Horan, a photography teacher added, “It’s better to put safety before prints or work.”
In light of the anthrax exposure and eventual death of the Florida man on Sept. 18, and nine additional people testing positive for anthrax, call to emergency personnel have multiplied as the country is seemingly “on edge.”
Across the nation, scores of calls regarding suspicious white powder have flooded emergency workers, responding to hundreds of calls.
Memphis is no exception.
Firemen from the station on Southern Avenue said that while the call to the Meeman Journalism building was their first anthrax-related call of the day, they have responded to a growing number.
The fifth battalion HAZMAT squad said they had been called to at least seven separate calls related to anthrax on Tuesday alone. The battalion of around 50 people handle all of the HAZMATs for Shelby County.
“I think we’ve shown that The University of Memphis was ready in this type of event,” said Bruce Harber, interim director of the Department of Public Safety. “We’d discussed it and we had told our officers that if anything should come up, it should be treated seriously.”
