BOISE, Idaho — An ammonia leak in downtown Boise had people sheltering in place and businesses evacuating on Tuesday morning, including Interfaith Sanctuary.
Interfaith Sanctuary said that a fire crew on the scene told them to evacuate and move to Julia Davis Park.
"For a homeless shelter, that's a lot of different kinds of guests with lots of mobility issues and things like that," Jodi Peterson-Stiegers, executive director for Interfaith Sanctuary said. "So basically, we had to figure out how to get people in wheelchairs and people who were on walkers, along with everyone else, out of the building. And then we didn't know to where."
The leak occurred Tuesday morning on 15th street, near the I-84 connector in downtown Boise.
Boise Fire put out a "Code Red" notification telling residents within a 1/2 mile of the leak to shelter in place by closing all doors and windows. People on the streets within 500 feet of the leak were told to evacuate. Some businesses also evacuated.
The shelter had two staff on site when the leak started around 7 a.m. Five staff members were able to get to the site to assist in moving people.
Maranda Jay, the shelter director for Interfaith Sanctuary, was one of the staff members there. She said the second she walked into the area, she was hit with the smell of ammonia.
"People all over the streets, they just pushed them out to the streets," Jay said. "Less than half a block away from where I was when I got blasted in the face with the smell. There's people and they're just like, 'what are we supposed to do?'"
Interfaith also worked to evacuate the homeless population living on the streets near Cooper Court.
"Our guests that are not inside the shelter or inside Corpus [Christi House], they're actually in Cooper Court and in the very vicinity where the gas leak was," Peterson-Stiegers said. "And it just didn't feel safe."
Shelter staff loaded vans with people to get them to a safe location. They were able to move people to a park, areas around the library, and a shelter at a nearby hotel.
"Very stressful, because in the back of your head there's a panic feeling, like I need to get these people out fast," Jay said. "But there's nothing I can do about the lack of availability of transporting those with the wheelchairs."
Interfaith says they are unhappy with the lack of communication and planning regarding the response from Boise Fire and Boise Police, who were in charge of the scene. They say there was no plan for how to manage the evacuation of the homeless population on the streets.
"It was total chaos and really no clarity," Peterson-Stiegers said. "Like there was no one who was coming and saying 'All clear, it's safe to be here.' There was a message that came from dispatch that said at this point it was safe to return into your businesses. But then we didn't know what to do for people who were unsheltered and actually out on the street. We didn't know what safety meant for them, and so we did make some calls to try and get some information, and no one really knew how to direct us."
Boise Fire and Boise Police gave KTVB a statement about the response:
"In most cases the instructions from Boise Fire were to shelter in place or to shut your doors and windows and turn off your heating and cooling system. For any evacuation recommendations, people would have been told to evacuate the area, not just a building. We understand that major disruptions like this cause a hardship and we take every effort to quickly and safely render a scene safe. We have not been contacted by Interfaith Sanctuary and would be happy to assist them with their organization’s evacuation plans."
Interfaith Sanctuary said they would be interested in meeting with other organizations and city officials to come up with a plan to evacuate and manage homeless populations, in case a similar situation happens in the future.
"This is a good opportunity to go and sit with city staff and kind of come up with a plan if an evacuation has to happen within this court," Peterson-Stiegers said. "Where do we transport to, where is the location, how do we get resources to the area? We're gonna take this as a big learning lesson."
BPD also conducted a cleanup around Cooper Court on Tuesday. BDP says cleanups are conducted to clear items blocking access for public services, and items of concern - like trash, discarded items, feces, tents, and drugs.
Some rumors circulating claim the cleanup was done due to police already being in the area for the leak; however, the cleanup was already scheduled for that morning by Boise Police. It was later moved to the afternoon due to the leak. Boise Police said prior notice was given, and that those needing assistance were made aware of the options available prior to and during cleanup.
Full statement from Boise Police Department and Boise Fire:
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