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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 8, 2011 - 02:33pm PT
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Grand Teton National Park (WY)
VC Evacuated Following Accidental Bear Spray Discharge
As a park ranger was greeting visitors for a morning program in the Colter Bay auditorium this past Tuesday, a man sat down on what was apparently his unsecured can of bear spray, causing the can to discharge its contents of highly irritating spray into the room. The irritating element in bear spray is oleoresin capsicum, the same element in the pepper spray carried by law enforcement rangers but with a higher percentage of the irritant. The ranger immediately recognized what had happened and directed all the occupants to the emergency exits. The visitor who accidently discharged the bear spray ran from the room and building. Park emergency personnel were notified of the incident, as the building's air handling systems moved the residual pepper spray into the main lobby. The first arriving units found approximately 20 employees and visitors in the main lobby coughing and experiencing other side effects from the pepper spray. Incident command was established and the building was evacuated, after which structural fire personnel in full PPE began ventilating the building and emergency medical staff evaluated both employees and visitors. All the affected individuals declined medical treatment. Visitor services were continued through the day at portable tables in front of the visitor center while cleanup was begun by facility management staff. Cleanup presented a challenging task, though, as the irritant is dispersed in an oil-based aerosol that attaches to any surface it contacts, including vinyl, plastics, carpeting, clothing and human skin. The cooperating association bagged and sealed many soft items, such as t-shirts and stuffed animals, for decontamination at a later date. Rangers were unsuccessful in locating the person who discharged the bear spray, but statements from the interpreter in the room and other visitors indicate that the discharge was accidental. The visitor center was reopened on Wednesday.
[Submitted by Patrick Hattaway, North District Ranger/Incident Commander]
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Let people carry guns in the park and then we wouldn't have to carry that dangerous hot sauce!
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10b4me
Boulder climber
Happy Boulders
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common sense isn't that common anymore
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apogee
climber
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When bear spray is outlawed, only bears will have bear spray.
Right, Cragman?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Is that a can of bear spray in yer pocket or are you just glad to see Yogi?
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Incident command was established
What a clusterf*#k. Open the door, point a fan out, and get on with it. It's pepper spray, not freakin anthrax.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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I recall that a former co-worker had a similar incident. As I recall the story went, he had finished fishing for the day and didn't notice that the safety lever came off his bear spray. He got into his car, and as he sat down, it discharged.
Speaking of stupid former co-workers, there was the guy that shot himself in the hand with a nail gun, not once, but twice.
My all time favorite story was an un-named co-worker who became the poster child for dumb stunts away from work. His kids wanted to their basketball inflated, so Mr. Genius figures he'll use his air compressor to do the job really fast. The reason he became a safety (or rather danger) subject, was he was holding the ball between his legs, and had to take a trip the hospital due to injuries sustained when the ball exploded.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Thanks for my laugh of the Morning!
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Captain...or Skully
climber
or some such
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Well, you probably won't die, you'll just wish you were for a bit.
Yeesh. Can o' whoopAss, indeed.
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Anastasia
climber
hanging from an ice pick and missing my mama.
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A friend once used pepper spray in her backyard to discourage a family of Raccoons that were destroying her shed. Well, it discouraged her whole family from going to the shed for over a month.
Bad evil stuff....
On a side note... People who do pepper spray a perimeter around their campsites actually get the opposite effect. When it's on a natural environment the pepper spray actually smell like a sex hormone. Bears find it and rub themselves all over it... It's like cat nip for bears.
Now let me see if I can find a site that shows this...
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http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/courses/zool224/?Page=699
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"Smith said that although research has shown that red pepper spray is highly effective as a deterrent in aggressive grizzly and brown bear encounters when sprayed directly in a bear's eyes or nose, his pilot study shows that spray residues did attract brown bears when used in nonaggressive situations. Brown bear responses to red pepper spray-treated sites in his study ranged from mere sniffing to whole body rolling in the residues, an uncommon bear behavior."
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R.B.
Trad climber
47N 122W
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Yeah, I am a member of the dumb-a&& club too:
I left my canister in my glove box during the summer time, and the heat of the inside of my car made the canister discharge into my glove box, all over everything.
It was a mess. But over time and a little bit of scrubbing, you can't even smell or know it ever discharged.
The original post sure seems like an overreation to me. Just saying.
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adam d
climber
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I was leading a NOLS Backcountry Rock course in the Winds a few years ago and we had an "incident" right at the road head. As we were dealing, one girl's pack tipped over and her bear spray (tucked in an outside pocket) hit a rock and punctured spraying that orange, tasty goodness all over. She was spared but the pack wasn't. We emptied her pack and scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed to get it off (it's an attractant ya know?!). Soap and water, again and again. Finally it looked like it was gone but how to know for sure? Taste test of course!
Couldn't get rid of it so we called out and had a new pack brought up to the road head.
On other NOLS courses, I've had 2 more students accidentally spray themselves, both times when the safety worked its way off. Never had to even point one at a bear despite many encounters.
Bears 3. Humans 0.
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