SAN JOSE — An apparent suicide involving a poisonous chemical sent several people to the hospital and prompted the evacuation of three floors of the Hotel Fairmont in Downtown San Jose on Saturday, authorities said.
Firefighters were called to the hotel around 10 a.m. for a reported suicide after a hotel staff member found a woman dead in a room on the 19th floor and smelled a chemical odor.
Nine employees and guests were treated at the scene and taken to local hospitals for exposure to the still-unidentified chemical, San Jose Fire Department Capt. Mitch Matlow said.
Some reported feeling faint and lightheaded, or were experiencing shortness of breath, Matlow said, but none of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
“Nine people were decontaminated, including seven hotel staffers and two guests,” Capt. Matlow said.
Authorities shut down Market Street between San Carlos and San Fernando streets as they investigated the incident. The street was still closed off around 5 p.m.
“More than 100” emergency workers responded to the incident, including San Jose firefighters, police officers, county firefighters, and county emergency medical services personnel, Matlow estimated.
San Jose fire and police officials are still investigating the death and working to identify the chemical that was used.
People inside the building reported that the chemical smelled like rotten eggs, indicating it may have been hydrogen sulfide gas, Matlow said.
Authorities on Saturday did not provide any information about the person who died.
However, San Jose police contacted and conversed with the person who was registered with the hotel as staying in the room where the suicide occurred was registered and spoke to that individual.
That investigative sequence suggested the suicide victim was someone other than the registered guest in the affected room. It wasnt immediately clear if the registered guest and the suicide victim knew each other.
Fire crews evacuated the 18th, 19th and 20th floors. The hotel staff shut off the hotels ventilation system to contain the chemical.
More than a dozen fire trucks and ambulances, including at least one hazardous materials truck, were stationed outside the hotel on Saturday morning.
Five people were seen being treated by fire crews outside the hotel, one of whom was showered with water from a fire hose before being taken to an ambulance on a gurney.
The hotels lobby and other businesses on the first floor remained open, and the building was never fully evacuated.
No firefighters were injured in the incident, Matlow said.
“The hotel is being repopulated for those who wish to return to their rooms” on floors 18 and 20, Matlow said.
