Midwest Furfest Poison Gas Attack
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Overview
2014 Midwest Furfest Poison Gas Leak was a chlorine gas attack that took place at the Hyatt hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, where the 15th annual furry fan convention was being held for the weekend. The attack sent 19 people to the hospital and made headlines the following day.
Background
At around 12:40 a.m. on December 7th, 2014, the Hyatt hotel in the suburban town of Rosemont, Illinois, was evacuated after a high level of chlorine gas was detected on the ninth floor of the building. According to the Rosemont Police Department, the nature of the incident seemed to be an "intentional act," as the source of the gas was subsequently identified as a pile of powdered chlorine placed in a stairwell on the ninth floor (shown below).
As a result of the incident, 19 guests who were staying at the hotel, including at least a dozen of Furfest attendees, were transported to hospitals nearby for treatment of toxic gas inhalation, and the rest of the occupants were allowed back into the building around 4:20 a.m. after the decontamination was completed.
Notable Developments
At 1:29 a.m. (ET), less than an hour after the evacuation procedures began, the organizers of the Midwest Furfest tweeted a brief statement on the developing situation via its official Twitter account.[13]
Later that afternoon, the organizers released an official statement via its website[17], assuring its attendees that the convention events for the day would be running on a full, normal programming schedule.
Excerpt from furfest.org:
As we wake up today we want to continue to provide the best possible convention that we can, despite the trying circumstances. The convention will be running on a full normal programming schedule today. We ask you to continue to be patient, and remember that the volunteers who make Midwest FurFest happen intend to give 110% to make sure that the fun, friendship, and good times of Midwest FurFest 2014 overshadow last night’s unfortunate incident. To dispel rumors: Because this was an unforeseen possibly criminal act, Midwest FurFest will not be offering refunds, nor will the Hyatt Regency O’Hare be comping any rooms.
News Media Coverage
By 10:00 a.m. (ET) on December 7th, the gas leak evacuation at the Hyatt hotel was reported on by several local TV news affiliates and newspapers, including ABC7Chicago[14], NBC Chicago[1] and the Chicago Tribune[6], followed by a number of online news sites and internet culture blogs, such as The Daily Mail[16], Gawker[4], The Escapist[9] and Kotaku Australia.[10] Throughout the day, the story continued to circulate among the furry communities on the web, along with several news photographs of people standing by outside of the hotel while still dressed in furry costumes.
Online furry fandom resource site Wiki Fur[5] updated its Midwest Furfest 2014 article with several details of the gas leak incident and convention attendees posted snapshots via Twitter live from the event.
Search Interest
External References
[1] NBC Chicago – 19 Hospitalized After Chemical Leak Interrupts FurFest
[2] CBS St. Louis (via Wayback Machine) – Chlorine Leak Sends FurFest Guests Scurrying
[3] Washington Times – Chlorine gas leak at furry convention was intentional, police say; 19 hospitalized
[4] Gawker – 19 Hospitalized After Possible Chemical Attack on Furry Convention
[5] Wiki Fur – Midwest FurFest 2014
[6] Chicago Tribune – Gas Leak At Rosemont Hotel
[7] CBS News – Chicago furry convention hit with "intentional" chemical leak
[8] ABC News – Chlorine Gas at Furry Animal Lovers' Convention May Have Been Released Intentionally: Police
[9] The Escapist – Intentional Gas Leak Injures Furry Convention Attendees
[10] Kotaku Australia – Suspected Gas Attack At 'Furry' Convention Puts 19 In Hospital
[11] Ars Technica – 19 hospitalized at furry convention due to “seemingly intentional” gas leak
[12] The Onion – Furry Convention Attacked By Chlorine Powder Bomb
[13] Twitter – Midwest Furfest's Tweet
[14] ABC 7 Chicago – FURFEST EVACUATED AFTER CHLORINE LEAK AT HYATT HOTEL
[15] Chicago Sun Times – Chemical leak at Hyatt Regency during furry festival deemed intentional (unavailable)
[16] Daily Mail – Did someone try to POISON a furry convention? Chlorine gas sickens 19 as police reveal leak may have intentionally targeted cosplayers
[17] Midwest Furfest (via Wayback Machine) – Statement on Sunday Morning's Evacuation
Top Comments
FizzBuzz3000
Dec 08, 2014 at 01:20AM EST
Mistress Fortune
Dec 08, 2014 at 12:10AM EST