Chemical Hazard Evacuates First National Building
Hazardous material forces Omaha's tallest building to evacuate everyone inside.
Crews responded to the First National Bank tower at 16th & Dodge just after 10 am Friday. A person at the dock on the west side of the building received a package that was wet. Nitric acid was leaking in the cardboard box so they decided to evacuate the building, and contain the chemical.
The nitric acid was going to be used for a test kit for an air conditioning tower. The chemical can be a respiratory hazard, and the building couldn't shut off the ventilation system to keep the fumes from spreading.
Employees were evacuated as a precaution. Officials say the plan to get everyone out went very well. Though the danger was not as great as it could've been, some employees were still worried because they needed to get work done before the weekend.
"It's Friday, I do need to be productive today, but it's not such a bad thing I guess," said Scott Volentine.
"Very much a nuisance,” Heidi Holtgrewe explained. “It's Friday I'll have to stay late."
Workers were let back into the building a little over an hour later. The nitric acid was taken to a facility that can handle that material.
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