The Lexington Fire Department, alongside state agencies, removed hazardous substances from an unoccupied house at 23 Longfellow Road in Lexington on Monday around noon.
The owner of the property contracted a “licensed state professional” to oversee the removal of substances at the site, Derek Sencabaugh, LFD’s fire Chief, told the Observer. That contracted professional then tapped LFD to assist because what they found was “beyond their scope,” the Chief said.
They found picric acid, a chemical that can be highly explosive, among many bottles of other substances, a press release from the state reported. Many of them were old and unstable, but others were radioactive.
There was no indication of criminal activity at the house, the state reported. The home was unoccupied after the resident, who was a chemist, passed away.
A few state teams were deployed to help LFD. The Department of Fire Services’ Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Division was requested to assist at the scene. The State Police Bomb Squad, an FBI special agent bomb technician, and the DFS Joint Hazard Incident Response Team responded due to the energetic and reactive nature of some materials that were discovered. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was also there. And, a DFS Rehab unit was there to support first responders’ health and safety.
State Police bomb technicians carefully transferred the substances from the home to a Lexington Department of Public Works truck filled with sand. The substances were transported to a remote location where they were destroyed without incident. A licensed radiological contractor took the radioactive substances to safely dispose of them, and a private clean-up company took the remaining materials.
The mission concluded around 8 p.m.
Asked how often something like this happens in Lexington, Sencabaugh said, “this does happen from time to time and we are called to assist and monitor the safe removal of any products identified by the property owners.”