Halon Release Forces Evacuation

A release of the halon fire extinguishing system at the Miami (Fla.) 911 center forced the evacuation of 24 dispatchers early Sunday morning from the fourth-floor comm center at police-fire headquarters. Five dispatchers were taken to a hospital for treatment after they complained of breathing problems, but they were later released. Officials said they were investigating why the halon system activated, possibly a faulty sensor. During the evacuation, all telephone calls were routed to other comm center for handling, and then relayed back to the city’s mobile command post for dispatching to field units. Officials said that dispatching operations were using a back-up center while crews cleaned up the center and re-charged the halon system.