PALMER, Mass. – Investigators believe an employee accidentally set off the fire suppression system at a local Pride gas station Tuesday, covering the people pumping gas in white powder and filling the intersection with a cloud of dust.

It looked like snow covered the cars as emergency officials rushed to the scene at 11:30 a.m.

“When I pulled up it was still a cloud of dust. The entire intersection was filled with dry chemical,” said Palmer Fire Chief Alan Roy, one of the first to arrive. “People were just covered in white. All you could see were eyes and lips.”

The substance is nontoxic, but classified as a nuisance powder because it can irritate eyes, skin and the respiratory system, Roy said. He said 10 people were taken to Wing Memorial Hospital to be decontaminated. The hospital had set up a small decontamination unit so those affected could be rinsed off, he said.

Police Chief Robert Frydryk said 14 people were involved, but some refused treatment.

“They were a little panicked. They knew it was the fire extinguisher system, but they didn’t know if there was any harm,” Frydryk said.

When the system discharged, Roy said, it unleashed 900 pounds of the dry chemical Pyro-Chem ABC Multi-Purpose Extinguishing Agent.

Robert Bolduc, Pride president, likened the substance to baking soda.

DS END STABILE

(Lori Stabile is a staff writer for The Republican of Springfield, Mass. She can be contacted at lstabile(at)repub.com.)

2008-07-07-SNOWY-MISHAP

AP-NY-07-02-08 1719EDT