Fumes that prompted evacuations identified as tear gas(source mystery)

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1133462645141960.xml&storylist=cleveland

Fumes that prompted evacuations identified as tear gas
12/1/2005, 1:35 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

CHAUNCEY, Ohio (AP) — Tear gas caused mysterious fumes last week that forced hundreds of residents to leave their homes in the southeast Ohio village, authorities said Thursday.

The source of the gas remains a mystery. A woman reported seeing a cloud of white smoke rising from a vacant lot before people started complaining about burning eyes and throats Saturday from a strong chemical odor in the air.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification analyzed samples of grass and residue from the lot to identify tear gas as the cause, Logan Fire Chief Brian Robertson said.

Fire crews found a burnt patch on the ground in the vacant lot, but there was no canister or other container for tear gas, said Dan Brown, chief of the Chauncey-Dover Volunteer Fire Department...

[Syncronaut Seven]

1. Sounds like a kid tied a gas cannister to an M-80

Local residents should consider it a desensitization exercise for impending martial law. Once you realize the gas won't kill you (asthmatics excepted) It's far less scary.

[Ian David]

2. Terrorists hate us for our vacant lots. n/t