Fire crews evacuated a number of people from the Calgary Courts Centre on Thursday after a suspicious package containing white powder was found on the eighth floor.
Emergency crews responded to the building at 6 Avenue and 5 Street S.W. at about 11:40 a.m. and quarantined 22 people on the floor where the package was found and evacuated others from the floors directly above and below.
The ventilation system in the building was also shut down to prevent the substance from possibly spreading to other areas.
The Hazardous Materials Team used specialized equipment to test the substance and it was determined to be corn starch and did not pose a risk to anyone in the building.
“We’re doing some more testing just to ensure that there’s nothing else toxic or hazardous in that package but initial reports show that it is corn starch,” said Carol Henke, CFD Public Information Officer.
The people who were quarantined were released and those who were evacuated were allowed to return to the 7th and 9th floors a few hours later.
Officials say no one was injured in the incident and police are now investigating to determine where the package came from.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact police at the non-emergency number at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
