About 2,000 evacuated from Olympia hotel due to pepper spray

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Police say about 2,000 people were evacuated from a hotel in West Olympia after pepper spray fumes spread through the hotel's air system.


The Olympian reports (http://goo.gl/Ais0sn ) officers responded to a report of a fight at the Red Lion Hotel Wednesday evening. They arrived to find the fire alarm activated, people evacuating and a smell of pepper spray inside.

Officers found a woman covered in an orange residue, which is common when someone has been pepper sprayed.

She told officers she had come to the hotel to collect bail money for her boyfriend and would up fighting with a woman when she wouldn't give her the money. She said the woman hit her with pepper spray during the altercation.

The woman was treated for pepper spray exposure.

Police are investigating.