White powder forces evacuation of two Edmonton buildings

EDMONTON – The main floor of the provincial law courts in downtown Edmonton was evacuated Wednesday around noon due to reports of suspicious white powder.

The powder was found inside a traffic ticket payment.

Hazmat crews were called to the scene.

All entrances into the courthouse were blocked.

While the main floor was evacuated, other floors were not considered to be in the “hot zone.”

A short time later, several tests done on the white powder confirm it was a non-dairy creamer.

“Any time you tie up resources like this, it’s definitely not an innocent prank,” said Dave Matwichuk, with Edmonton Fire Rescue. “I mean, hazmat is an integral part of our fire service and we respond to a lot of calls throughout the day.”

The law courts were reopened again by 1 p.m.

Later in the afternoon, a similar incident played out across the street.

Fire fighters determined a suspicious package at the Brownlee building was also coffee whitener.

Edmonton police are now investigating both cases.