Odor Forces Evacuation of Ky. Building

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. --

A building in downtown Louisville has been evacuated after reports of a chemical odor.

An unknown number of people at the Chestnut building told emergency crews the smell made them ill. Employees complained of irritated throats, dizziness and nausea. EMS crews treated 21 people for nausea and dizziness. Nobody was transported to the hospital.

The building is located at 410 Chestnut Street.

Hazmat officials suited up and went into the building to find the source and make sure no one was in the building.

Initially, only the fourth floor of the building, which houses the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, was evacuated. Later the rest of the building was also evacuated. In all, about 100 people were evacuated from the building.

Louisville Fire Sgt. Sal Melendez said all 11 floors of the building were evacuated floor by floor.

"There is no sign of a leakage anywhere," Melendez said. "But the plant manager said when he arrived, he smelled something. That odor, since, has dissipated."

Greco Perry was on the sixth floor of the building when a coworker called to tell him of the evacuation.

"I thought it was best to come out of the building because I was on the sixth floor, but I didn't smell anything," Perry said. "So far, right now, I'm pretty OK."

After further investigation, fire officials said there were workers on the fourth floor fixing a metal plate on a metal door using heat and that may be the cause of the smell.

Employees returned to the building before noon.

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