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December 31, 2007

Exposure to suspicious material sends 4 to hospital

The police in Charlestown are investigating a suspicious substance that overtook two officers with toxic fumes.

According to a statement released by the police department, officers responded to a call at about 9:40 p.m. last night from a Post Road residence. The caller said she backed over a glass container that was in her driveway and had been exposed to an unknown substance.

Patrolman Philip Gingerella and his brother Peter Gingerella, a reserve police officer, “were both overcome by low lying toxic fumes coming from the property,” according to a statement released by the police.

The 4700 block of Old Post Road was closed until about midnight while HazMat Teams from the state and the Hope Valley Fire Department joined the state Department of Environmental Management to investigate.

The two officers, the caller, and a friend of hers who had been exposed to the substance were taken to a decontamination area, and then to South County Hospital. In addition to the effects of the substance, they were treated for hypothermia, according to the statement.

The incident is under investigation while municipal authorities await the results of laboratory tests on the substance.

Because of “the suspicious nature of the glass container and its contents,” the state Fire Marshal’s Office is also assisting the investigation.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 8:24 AM | Permalink

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