[HFDlist] A bizarre suicide in Seekonk....

[Jack Chandler]

Something to think about while responding.............

A bizarre suicide in Seekonk, where authorities say a man killed himself 
by sealing his car windows and filling the vehicle with a homemade 
poisonous gas, is part of an eerie death-by-hazmat trend imported from 
Japan and posing potentially fatal risks to the public, safety officials 
say.

A group of preteens alerted authorities to Friday's scary scene, having 
spotted a car in the parking lot of an abandoned theater. They heeded a 
warning posted on the window, which told them to call 911 and not to 
open the door.

"This is a method that came out of Japan, where culturally suicide is 
not as shunned as it is in this country," said David Ladd, director of 
hazmat response for the state's Department of Fire Services.

Hazmat specialists are trained to deal with the dangers, but the public 
--- often the first to make such discoveries --- is not.

"If they open the environment, they could be subject to being 
immediately exposed to the toxic gases," said Ladd, who was among those 
who responded to the Seekonk suicide.

Ladd said the death was the fifth of its kind in a year, with the others 
occurring in Watertown, Somerville, Fall River and Amherst.

In a similar case Friday night, a man in Lexington was found in his car 
after drinking a beverage spiked with cyanide, Ladd said. That man survived.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said officials caught wind of the 
trend about three years ago and ramped up training.

"It's a timely topic, and I'm pleased we were out in front of it," Coan 
said.

---- john.zaremba at bostonherald.com

-- 


Jack Chandler, Chief
Holden Fire Department
1370 Main Street
Holden, Massachusetts 01520
Ph: 508-210-5650
Fx: 508-210-5667
JChandler at Holdenma.gov


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