Odor at UTC This Morning Caused By Cleanser

Firefighters and medics from the were alerted for a possible natural gas odor with sick people at about 10 a.m. this morning.

Fire/EMS units responded to 6511 America Boulevard, a four-story office building with retail and restaurants occupying the ground level, according to Mark Brady, Prince George's County Fire/EMS spokesman.

Firefighters investigated the odor and evaluated two workers who said that they nearly fainted.

Using gas tracking meters and monitoring equipment firefighters were unable to detect an odor or any presence of natural gas or carbon monoxide in the building.

After further investigation, crews found that a restaurant was in the process of cleaning cooking its equipment, hood and exhaust system. An industrial strength product used to clean this equipment produced a pungent odor that traveled through the upper floors of the building.

The condition of the two sick employees rapidly improved after being removed to a fresh air environment by paramedics and refused to go to the hospital, Brady said in an e-mail to Patch.

The entire building was ventilated and the 300 workers that had evacuated the building were allowed to return about 10:45 am.