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Toledo Fire: Sugar substitute to blame for suspected hazmat incident at federal courthouse

The call came just after 1 p.m. The courthouse was evacuated.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Fire and Rescue crews were on the scene of a potential hazmat situation at the federal courthouse building that turned out to be nothing more than Sweet and Low, a sugar substitute, on Monday afternoon. The white, powdery substance was discovered in an envelope by a mailroom employee, according to fire officials.

A courthouse employee found the then-unknown substance in an envelope that was mailed to the courthouse. The employee immediately exited the area and alerted security. The sender's identity is unknown at this time.

Fire officials said that the substance was tested and came back as being Sweet and Low. 

“The equipment they take in, one of the meters they have has the capability of scanning and if the substance is in the database that is stored in there, it will alert them of what it is. Fortunately it was identified as Sweet and Low,” Pvt. Sterling Rahe of the Toledo Fire Department said.

The HVAC system for the building was shutdown and all employees evacuated. No one has had to go through detox, but the individual who opened the envelope was evaluated as a precaution.
 

Hazmat crews and the FBI were investigating. No threats have been made to anyone in the courthouse recently. 

The incident call came just after 1 p.m. Responders were directed to the courthouse on Spielbusch Avenue. 

Spielbusch was shut down to traffic between Cherry Street and Jackson, but has since reopened. 

Court proceedings were still going on as scheduled in a different building. A judge was seen with others going across the street. K-9 units also were on scene.  

Officials haven't determined yet if this was an accident, a prank of if the incident had any other motivation. 

“Unknown at this time (if it was a prank), what drives people to do this, various reasons but, again, we have to take the precautions that not only our folks are safe but the public is safe too,” Rahe said.

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