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Oct. 02--A hazardous materials team, bomb squad and other first-responders descended on the parking lot of a Bremerton church Sunday morning, where a man's body was found in a pickup along with a sign on the driver's window warning of an explosive, dangerous gas.
Kitsap County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Wilson said the case appears to be a suicide similar to others across the nation from chemicals that release hydrogen sulfide -- a colorless gas that is toxic not only to suicide victims but to police officers, medics and anyone who gets close.
Chemical suicides are on the rise across the United States and have injured unsuspecting bystanders and police officers, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From 2006 to 2010, six states, including Washington, reported a total of 10 cases that killed nine people, injured four police officers, and required the decontamination of 32 people, according to the CDC. The agency said Japan has seen hundreds of such suicides.
While such cases are a tiny fraction of all suicides, chemical suicides -- also called detergent suicides -- have the potential to kill first-responders if they don't wear protective gear, says the CDC.
The black pickup parked outside Family of God Lutheran Church in Bremerton seemed out of place to pastor Sigi Helgeson as she arrived Sunday at about 8 a.m.
There was a handmade sign tacked to the driver's window, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, that read: "Do not come near. Truck will explode. Danger is gas."
When she saw the sign, Helgeson parked at the opposite end of the lot and called 911.
Police and fire officials arrived. They cordoned off the parking lot and called in the hazardous-materials team at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor and the State patrol's bomb squad.
Three members of the church's band arrived to rehearse before the two services, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Helgeson canceled the services, but she and three others gathered in the church's sanctuary to pray.
"We are so sorry for the family and for the person," she said.
Wilson said the man's identity has not been determined, and that hazardous-materials teams planned to decontaminate his body before turning it over to the Kitsap County coroner.
Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or [email protected]
