NORTHAMPTON — A fire extinguisher was dismantled, smashed and its contents sprayed around in the sixth-floor hallway of the Walter Salvo House late Thursday evening.
Police and fire were called to the scene at 11:56 p.m. for reports of smoke in the building. The fire alarm was also activated, say police reports, and as officials arrived residents were exiting the building.
Officers on scene saw no smoke, but instead observed a “cloudy substance” in the air they determined was a yellow powder that came from a fire extinguisher, according to reports.
Perpetrators face a felony vandalism charge, a misdemeanor charge for disturbing the peace and an ordinance violation for tampering with a fire alarm. Police have no suspects, but are working with the Northampton Housing Authority to retrieve video of the incident.
Police photos show a pale, yellow powder covering the hallway and surrounding stairwells. It appears the fire extinguisher was slammed against a fire alarm’s pull switch, say police reports.
“When I got there everybody was gone,” Michael Harris, senior service technician with the Housing Authority, said Friday. “It looked to me like they just sprayed the fire extinguisher around, just trying to make a mess. The mess was cleaned up this morning.”
Belinda Aldrich, a seventh-floor resident, told officers that shortly before the incident she was stepping outside for a cigarette when two men and “possibly” a woman pushed past her to get inside the front door, which only residents and their guests are allowed to enter.
After returning to her apartment, she told officers, she heard “a lot of commotion in the stairwell,” and moments later the alarm was going off.
Police were unable to locate the extinguisher, reports say, though parts of it were scattered around the sixth-floor hallway and the stairway leading up to it.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.