A potential crisis at Ellenville Police Department headquarters was turned into a training exercise by quick-witted fire teams.

Around 3:15 on Friday afternoon, a woman came to the Ellenville Police Department to report a suspicious package she had received. For unknown reasons she opened the package in the police station with officers present. Inside was a white powder. The woman also reported immediately feeling ill.

With an abundance of caution in this era when it seems anything can happen, the police called for fire department assistance. And that set off a cascade of effects that soon brought a strong first-responder response to the village. Ellenville Fire called on Kingston Fire, and Kingston immediately dispatched their HazMat unit which is equipped to analyze potentially dangerous substances. Meanwhile, Ellenville firefighters staged at the parking lot behind Elting Court, set up yellow tape and waited to see what would be found.

Village Manager Michael Warren told the Shawangunk Journal what it was like on the inside. “At about 3:20, they came running up to the offices here,” Warren said. “It was people from all departments, police, fire and I think ambulance. They said, 'You must evacuate, now!' And so, everyone had to drop everything and get out immediately.”

Outside, Warren and village staffers found the fire department setting up in the parking lot and awaiting the arrival of the HazMat truck from Kingston. The truck arrived about 4:20 p.m.; immediately the Kingston team began analyzing the suspicious powder. Within 30 minutes or so they had established that it was neither a known poison nor spores of anthrax or some other pathogen. The all-clear was given and Ellenville Police were able to return to the police station.

Warren, who stayed in touch throughout, reported that “it was a flour-like substance, most likely wheat flour. They had a decontamination team there and they worked on it right there in the parking lot.”

Warren noted that having found the substance to be harmless, the fire crews turned the whole event into a training exercise. “Yeah, they realized that they had the opportunity to train for something like this,” Warren said. “They had the truck down from Kingston and they were all there and ready. So resources weren’t wasted and valuable training accomplished.”

Warren also has a warning for the public. “This was not the way something like this should be handled. The lady should have called the police and followed their instructions. Carrying something that might be hazardous through the village is not a good idea. You don’t touch it, you probably don’t open it and if you do, you get out of the house and you leave it behind.”