Andrew Barber, duty commander for Wagga Fire Station, said about 10am they received a call about a suspicious substance at the Service NSW Centre. 

“Crews upon arrival didn’t find any trace of a substance,” he said. 

“Witnesses, being Service Centre girls, saw an elderly man drop a shoulder bag and when it hit the floor there was a bit of a popping noise of something breaking and there was an emission of a white powder which one of the girls inhaled.”

Inspector Barber said they accessed CCTV and identified the male in question.

“He went back home and we sent a crew around to his house,” he said. 

“We found the satchel concerned and it was a recharging wire from his battery pack.

“The wire itself had fused and basically burned out and that emitted a dusty, white vapour.’ 

Inspector Barber said one girl was impacted by the vapour but was given oxygen by the ambulance and took a shower as a precautionary measure. 

“She feels fine,” he said. 

Inspector Barber said due to incidents in the past, the threat was taken seriously and emergency services treated it as a worst-case scenario. 

“We had Turvey Park and Wagga firefighters with a Hazmat unit,” he said. 

“Crews were here well within four minutes and here just over an hour.

“A cleaning crew will come through as a precaution.”

Inspector Barber said the public has no cause for concern and the site has been deemed safe. 

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