Shoppers at the First Congregational Church’s annual tag sale were forced to evacuate after being exposed to pepper spray on Sunday afternoon. Emergency responders evaluated 28 people for minor respiratory irritation, but none required emergency treatment or transport to the hospital. An investigation is ongoing to find the source of the irritant gas and to determine whether it was released accidentally or intentionally.
Approximately 60 students and community members were shopping at the tag sale when many developed a cough, itchy eyes, and a runny nose, according to the church’s pastor Quentin Chin. Soon after, tag sale manager Hilary Greene called the Williamstown Police Department (WPD), who in turn contacted the fire department, Chin said.
When members of the Williamstown Fire Department (WFD) arrived around 1:30 p.m., many shoppers had already evacuated and gathered outside. WFD Chief Jeffrey Dias said that firefighters, who wore protective respirators in the church, ruled out serious threats like a carbon monoxide or gas leak, but they were unable to identify the irritant gas or its source.
Dias then contacted the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services and requested a “Tier 1” hazmat response, the least severe of the commonwealth’s hazmat distinctions. Meanwhile, Northern Berkshire EMS and Pownal EMS evaluated the shoppers complaining of respiratory irritation, all of whom declined medical transport.
The hazmat team was able to identify the substance in the church as pepper spray, Chin said. The church was declared safe by the responding teams around 5 p.m. Sunday night and reopened the next morning, he said.
Dias told the Record that the WPD is investigating the incident. “We don’t know whether it was something that was done on purpose or a horrible prank.”
“If we do find that it was something done on purpose, then we will pursue that to every extent of the law,” he continued. According to Dias, emergency response to the incident cost the Town tens of thousands of dollars and occupied several ambulance crews as patients were evaluated. He said the investigation’s timeline is unknown.
According to Chin, the church is uncertain whether it will implement any security measures going forward. “We have no experience,” he said. “Just wrapping our heads around that this event happened is hard enough.”
Because the Sunday tag sale ended early, quite a bit of merchandise was left over, he added. The church will host an additional sale from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
“We’re just grateful that nothing worse happened,” Chin said. “That’s a blessing.”
