‘Volatile substance’ removal prompts evacuation in St. Boniface Friday

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This article was published 18/05/2024 (561 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two St. Boniface Hospital sections were temporarily evacuated Friday as a bomb squad removed a “volatile substance.”

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service were called to the St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre around 10:40 a.m. Friday.

A chemical commonly stored at the research centre had likely expired, said Const. Claude Chancy, a WPS public information officer.

“Once it does so, it becomes more volatile in nature and has to be disposed of,” Chancy explained.

He wouldn’t divulge what chemical was handled.

At the time, people in both the research centre and a nearby MRI facility were evacuated. Chancy called it a “precautionary measure,” adding nobody was hurt during the event.

The WPS bomb squad removed the chemical; they left the site by 2:30 p.m., taking the substance to a location made for disposing hazardous materials.

Chancy declined to say where the location was, or what specifically happens to such chemicals needing deletion. The facility adheres to regulations set by the Manitoba government, he underscored.

Both evacuated facilities reopened by Friday afternoon, the hospital told CTV News Friday. Neither the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority nor St. Boniface Hospital’s research centre responded to Free Press requests immediately.

The Winnipeg Police Service bomb squad responded to a similar call last June at the University of Manitoba, Chancy noted.

People evacuated after a “potentially unstable chemical” was found inside the Parker building.

That chemical, unlike the one taken Friday, was detonated. Both cases centred around small amounts of chemical, Chancy said.

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca