Bleach determined to be cause of haz-mat call

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Updated: NW 80th was shut down this afternoon just before 1 p.m. between Mary Ave NW and 14th Ave NW for a hazardous materials call.

Dana Vander Houwen with the Seattle Fire Department says the owner of a recently-purchased home found some bottles of an unknown material in the bushes near the house. Haz-mat crews rushed to the scene, a TV news chopper was dispatched, and the substance turned out to be… bleach.

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26 thoughts to “Bleach determined to be cause of haz-mat call”

  4. I was just looking here to find out why a helicopter had been hovering for so long over my house. Hazardous material? I can't think of anything in that area that would produce hazardous material except maybe one of the auto shops on 15th, but Mary Ave. is between 15th & 14th so it would be too far for it to leak. Very odd.

  6. 80th is closed between 13th & Mary. Two big fire trucks are parked on 80th, one diagonally across the intersection of 14th & 80th. That one has a hose deployed, heading south, but I can't see any more than that from here. The firemen on 80th were chatting and drinking coffee about 20 minutes ago, didn't seem like they were that worried. That was the guys in the outfits that look like police. The full-blown fire uniform guys were walking around further away, busier but they didn't seem too frantic about anything.

  11. I walked through that house with my brother/sister in-law a couple of months ago when they were looking to buy in the area. The house was bare at the time and couldn't imagine their being anything haz in there when we walked through. So anything haz must have been brought in by who ever ended up buying it… welcome to the neighborhood :(

  13. It's good to know the fire department takes things seriously. At the same time the home owner seems to have over reacted just a tad. The last two houses I moved into had basements full of old cleaning supplies, solvents and bottles of who knows what. Instead of going ape-feces I simply made sure the lids were on tight and took them down to the disposal site and let them dispose of the stuff safely. No panic and no firefighters running around in MOPP suits.

  14. Umm, how much did that cost?

    I remember closing up my Grandpa's house about 15 years ago. We found DDT in the garage. We called all over looking for someone, anyone to take it. Man, that was tricky…

  16. can't really blame the owner for over reacting IMO…. he/she obviously didn't know what it was… could have been anything.

    it turning out to be bleach makes them look a little silly, but if it was something of real concern, we would all be talking about how smart it was of them to call.

  17. The last house I lived in we found a big hazardous materials container in the garage with a phone number on it and lots of crazy warnings – turns out the guy who'd lived there before (and had tragically died in the basement from his own home-cooked drugs) was a scientist who had stolen the container and used it as a diaper pail – however, when we called the company they FREAKED and were out within 30 minutes to pick it up.

  19. I don't think it was *that* over reactionary considering that there is so much talk about the meth heads in the house down by Market and that would be the first thing I would guess if I found bottles of some stinky stuff in my bushes.. And the bottles were in the BUSHES. I've never known anyone that stores normal cleaning products in the bushes in their yard. If it was some sort of highly toxic substance it would've been foolish of them to just grab it out of the bushes and chuck it in the garbage. I suppose they could've made sure the tops were on and taken to the hazardous waste site, but we don't know – maybe they didn't have tops? It's easy to say someone over reacted when it turns out to be nothing, but then in the same breath if they hadn't called anyone and had accidentally thrown away some highly toxic substance, or spilled it all over place, we'd all be putting them down for that. Careful – it could be you tomorrow getting written about on the internet and then people will comment on how stupid you are even if what you did was perfectly reasonable.

  23. Back in my day, we would just haunt the house so folks wouldn't dare buy it.

    I never would have thought about hiding caustic chemicals in the shrubbery. I would've been worried sick that our dog Tiger would be lapping it up.

  24. Didn't your mother's ever teach you the phrase 'Better safe than sorry?'
    Just because it turned out to be bleach doesn't mean she shouldn't have called it in. It could have been something a lot worse.

  25. Yes, it ***could*** have been anything. However, most people would make the natural assumption that it was cleaning materials, solvents, etc. and would check that the bottles were sealed and then carefully haul it off to the disposal site. Even if it was something dangerously toxic so long as the lid is on you have little to worry about. Like I said, I found plenty of unmarked bottles of stuff in my past two houses but didn't feel the need to call the fire dept. I simply used a little common sense and caution.

    Seriously, if everyone called the fire dept anytime they saw an unknown container the fire dept would never sleep.

  26. Seeing as I'm the owner of the home, I'll provide some insight for you.

    First, the chemicals were found neatly wrapped in a bush at the side of the house when we were doing some yardwork. Not in the house, or in the garage. Whoever put them there made a little bed out of old clothing, and wrapped the jugs in bags. The bottles were labeled with crazy chicken scratch that I couldn't make out. Each was approx 1/3 full. Odd to find such things in the bushes, but not surprising considering we'd also found junk such as a toilet brush, various liquor bottles, shoes, clothing, and tent stakes in the yard. The house had been vacant for a few years, and I learned that there were homeless people living in the backyard and in the garage at various times. I threw the bottles in the trash.

    The next day I learned that not only were people living in the yard, but there was drug activity taking place. The details of which are unclear. But that got me thinking about those chemicals we found, and how great care was taken to hide them. I became concerned naturally. I didn't want the garbage man or anybody else to potentially get hurt because I thought nothing of it and simply tossed them in the trash. I'm not willing to risk the safety of my family and friends. I'm not stupid enough to open containers of this kind and have a look, and I didn't want to disturb them again. So I searched online for places to take the stuff.

    Not turning up much, I just drove down to the local police station to ask what I should do about it. They brushed me off saying they couldn't help me, and told me to call the non-emergency dispatch number. So I called up, and told the lady what I found. Without any panic in my voice I explained what I knew, and asked if they could send somebody to have a look at it. What they actually sent is what you saw on the news, which came as a complete shock to me. It turned out to be nothing, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I have no idea why somebody would take such care to stash bleach in the bushes. I guess you can't trust homeless druggies to do reasonable things :)

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