Police, the fire marshal’s office and the state Department of Environmental Protection are investigating who left a potentially dangerous chemical mixture in a bottle in downtown Seymour — and why it was left there in the first place.
“We don’t know if this was accidental or intentional. We don’t know precisely what the substance was. That’s why there is an investigation,” said Deputy Fire Marshal Timm Willis. “We’re following up to determine whether this was a crime or an accident.”
A business owner called 911 at 9:50 a.m. saying there was a chlorine bottle on the sidewalk along First Street that appeared “swollen,” according to information from police spokesman Lt. Paul Satkowski.
Emergency crews responded to the scene to check it out.
They closed First Street to keep motorists and pedestrians away until authorities could get an idea of the substance in the bottle.
First Selectman Paul Roy was advised it was a possible “bleach bomb,” but that authorities had it under control.
A HazMat team from the state Department of Environmental Protection responded to the scene — and a “recommendation was made to purge the container,” Satkowski said in a statement.
A Seymour officer used a high-powered pellet rifle to puncture the bottle.
Roy said the DEP confirmed there was bleach in the bottle — along with “something other than bleach.”
“What that other substance is, I don’t know,” Roy said.
Police called the other ingredient a “petroleum-type substance.”
“The substance inside the bottle could have presented a potential risk to the public,” Satkowski said in his statement. “A sample of the liquid was seized and is currently being sent to the state of Connecticut Forensic Laboratory located in Meriden for further testing to assist in the identification of the substance.”
Alex Budzinski, owner of the former Housatonic Wire Company, watched the proceedings.
The fire and police departments “treated it like a bomb,” he said, adding that “it caught everyone kind of off guard that something like this could actually happen.”
First Street is a highly visible area in downtown Seymour. Police are hoping the public can shed more light on the incident.
Anyone with information should contact police at 203 – 881-7600.
First Street was closed for roughly two hours and 15 minutes.
