An envelope containing a substance that turned out to be non-toxic was found Friday in a social services office in Pomona, prompting a call to Homeland Security and evacuation of one floor of the five-story building.
Firefighters were sent to 100 W. Second St. about 11 a.m. The envelope was found in a fourth-floor room, where three or four people “came in close proximity to it,” said county fire Capt. Mike Brown.
Those individuals were evaluated and determined not to have been subjected to a health hazard, Brown said.
“The substance was determined to be not life-threatening,” he said.
The room was isolated, and the fourth floor of the building was evacuated. The 40 people affected, including workers and children, were able to return to the area just before 1 p.m., Brown said.
The county Department of Children and Family Services has offices on the fourth floor of the building, Brown said.
Homeland Security personnel were notified, and hazardous materials teams from the county fire department and the sheriff's department were investigating, Brown said.
