A strong chemical odor prompted the evacuation of the New Towne Mall in New Philadelphia Tuesday evening.
New Philadelphia Fire Captain Matthew Graham says firefighters responded to the mall’s Entrance B, near the China Buffet wing, around 5:18 p.m. after a customer reported an odor similar to acetone.
Graham says crews traced the smell to a contractor applying sealant to a store floor without adequate ventilation, allowing chemical vapors to spread into the mall’s common areas.
The mall was evacuated as a precaution while firefighters opened exterior doors and used fans to ventilate the building. Graham says that process took about an hour. He says air-monitoring equipment detected the chemical vapors, but levels never reached a hazardous threshold and eventually returned to zero.
Graham says a few blood drive workers reported headaches and were evaluated by paramedics, but none required hospitalization.
The mall closed early as a result of the incident. Firefighters remained on scene until approximately 7 p.m.
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