Members of Local 589’s Executive Board seen here on the sidewalk in front of their office.

Early Tuesday morning, the Executive Board of the Boston Carmen’s Union was forced to evacuate Local 589’s union office due to an unknown gas.

Emergency responders, including EMS, Boston Fire, and the Boston Fire Department’s Hazmat team, were quick to the scene. After a thorough search, they concluded that it was tear gas from an old safe.

The safe, located in Financial Secretary/Treasurer Jim Ever‘s office, contained five glass vials of tear gas as a security measure. Due to the age of the safe, which many believe was built in the 20/30s, none of the members of the current executive board were aware of the security measure.

Vials of tear gas.

When one of the glass vials unexpectedly broke, the tear gas forced an immediate evacuation of the entire office.

The non-lethal gas makes breathing difficult and severely irritates the eye, causing tearing, pain, and occasionally blindness.

“I’m grateful that no one was hurt and that only one vial broke,” said President John Lee. “I want to thank the Boston Fire Department, EMS, and HazMat investigators, for their speedy response and professionalism in handling the situation. I also want to thank our own Jim Evers for going above and beyond, during this difficult time, to ensure all our records and financial documents are protected and accounted for.”

According to Lee, the office was closed on after 11:00 am on Tuesday and will re-open on Friday after air quality testing is completed.