Palo Alto, CA -- On April 8th at approximately 2:00 PM, Palo Alto resident Seth Yatovitz found a suspicious envelope in his afternoon mail delivery. Yatovitz took the envelope to Palo Alto Fire Station One, 301 Alma Street, about a block away from his home, and dropped it off at the rear door. Firefighters summoned police, who evacuated the building, cordoned off the rear parking lot and blocked surrounding side streets. Santa Clara County Sheriff's Bomb Squad technicians arrived, rendered the package safe, and determined that the white, 8-1/2x11 mailing envelope contained a soiled disposable baby diaper. A fire engine, a paramedic van and seven fire employees were displaced from the fire station and traffic was diverted for about two hours.

From the volume of suspicious package calls handled after September 11th, police and fire agencies have standard operating procedures in response to these types of incidents. The public is encouraged to leave suspicious packages in place and call 911. Further handling could be dangerous. Emergency workers will respond to the location of the package to assess the situation and take appropriate action.

###