Alice hotel hazmat scare sends 10 to hospitals, investigation continues

Ten people, including nine first responders, were sent to hospitals after a hazmat scare inside a second-floor room at the Quality Inn in Alice, where an unresponsive woman was found Friday morning. The call came in at 11:38 a.m. on July 10, and the hotel at 555 N. Johnson St. was evacuated as the scene shifted from a medical call to a full hazardous-materials investigation.

Officers and EMTs began feeling dizzy and lightheaded while giving aid, and one officer fainted. The woman and the exposed responders were taken to CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Alice, where the hospital was temporarily placed on lockdown as a precaution. That lockdown was lifted around 2 p.m. Friday.

Police Chief Eden Garcia said investigators were still working to determine what caused the illnesses and were taking every precaution so no one else would be hurt. Police said fentanyl had been ruled out, but they found traces of other narcotics in the room. The exact cause of the sickness remained unresolved, and the hotel room stayed under investigation while specialized crews began decontamination work.

Two hospitalized officers had been released by the time of the update, and the remaining patients were doing well.

Alice, the county seat, sits about 44 miles west of Corpus Christi along U.S. Highway 281. The Quality Inn property at 555 N. Johnson St. is a 98-room, two-story hotel, and the emergency response closed off part of that site while investigators continued tracing what substance, or combination of substances, triggered the illness.