RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Honolulu police blocked access to Sand Island State Park yesterday. Fire, police, and Health Department crews analyzed the contents of a suspicious suitcase found at Dole Cannery.
Dole building evacuated
for unclaimed suitcase
Dole Office Building was evacuated for about 2 1/2 hours yesterday while police and fire officials investigated and removed an unclaimed suitcase later found to contain two cylinders of compressed gas.
The suitcase was found at the top of the escalator in a general access area on the second floor, and police were called about 10 a.m., police said.
Patrol officers arrived and called in the Specialized Services Division, which assessed the situation before summoning the Fire Department's hazardous-materials teams about 4 p.m.
According to fire Capt. Emmit Kane, the Honolulu Fire Department transported the suitcase in a "bomb disposal container" and took it to an isolated area in Sand Island State Park after the building was evacuated.
He said hazardous-material teams used radiological and air-monitoring tests on the suitcase to determine that its contents were not hazardous. Kane said officials then opened the suitcase.
Fire officials found two cylinders of compressed gas. They were unable to determine what type of gas the cylinders contained at that time. Other agencies assisting were the state Department of Land & Natural Resources, the Department of Health and the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard and DLNR were called to limit access to the harbor near the Sand Island park.
In cases like these, "it's best to err on the side of caution," Kane said.
"Public safety and the health of the community are always first and foremost. When you don't know what you're dealing with, you always assume it could be anything," he added.
Kane said that ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "everybody has been ultrasensitive."
"If you see something somewhere you wouldn't expect, it should raise some red flags," Kane said.
But in instances similar to yesterday's, do not try to handle the situation yourself, according to Kane.
Notify security and "let them do their job," he said.
