Portland postal workers dosed by carrier's spray

[November 07, 2013]  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A letter carrier's spray intended to fend off aggressive dogs accidentally went off inside a Portland, Ore., post office Wednesday, sending three employees to the hospital to have their eyes flushed.

Workers fled the facility and someone called 911 to report chemical contamination.

Firefighters swarmed in, wearing masks with oxygen supplies and deploying sensors for biological, radiological and chemical hazards.

A Portland Fire Bureau spokesman, Lt. Rich Chatman, says he doesn't know how the spray was discharged, although he said it's easy to "hit the button accidentally."

He says the spray was a heavy-duty version of pepper spray known as bear spray.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.