FiDi Hotel Forced to Evacuate after Bear Spray Incident

No arrests have been made thus far after a dispute over luggage prompted one woman to bear spray another woman, triggering the evacuation of a FiDi Hotel on June 29.

The dispute erupted on the 20th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton and around 7:30 a.m. and the fumes quickly spread via the hotel’s centralized air system.

Guests poured onto Stone Street, between Whitehall and Broad Streets, where emergency personnel treated the affected individuals and two were transported to a local hospital. Several guests described a noxious smell, a tickling sensation in their throats and respiratory problems.

“The moment we stepped out, we couldn’t breathe, we started to choke,” one guest said. Another said that as he descended from his room on the 18th floor, he saw people holding masks and towels over their faces. “In about three floors, I realized there was a problem,” he said.

First Precinct police responded to the call at approximately 8:04 a.m., while FDNY received a call reporting fumes in the hotel at 8:14 a.m. Authorities reported eight patients with minor injuries; six of them — a 28-year-old female, a 78-year-old male, a 35-year-old male, a 53-year-old female, a 41-year-old female, and a 62-year-old male—were treated at the scene and declined further medical attention.

EMS transported the remaining two patients, a 39-year-old male and a 39-year-old female, to a local area hospital in stable condition, according to authorities.

After police initially urged citizens to stay away while the investigation commenced, emergency personnel gave the building the “all clear” at approximately 10:30 a.m., two and a half hours after the initial report. Hotel occupants were allowed to return to their rooms.

Bear spray is made to keep bears and other wild animals at bay during hunting and camping trips. While it is legal in New York State, and contains the same active ingredient as regular pepper spray, called oleoresin capsicum, also known as red pepper, the ingredient used in bear spray is far more potent. The Alaska Fish and Wild Life warns that bear spray “should be treated like a firearm.”

“It inflames the eyes and upper respiratory system. If used properly, it can effectively deter an aggressive bear.” But it also warns it should never be used on a human.

Unlike pepper spray which releases a direct stream, “bear spray disperses a wide, fog-like mist of capsaicinoids (the active ingredient in chili peppers), which irritates a bear’s eyes, nose, mouth, and respiratory system,” according to a the web page for Wolf Personal Safety, which markets bear spray.

Police were said to be looking at hotel video to determine which guest used the bear spray on another. The NYPD told Our Town Downtown on June 30 that the investigation remains ongoing.