Suspicious mail at Google building prompts hazmat response

U.S. postal inspectors concluded that suspicious mail sent to a Google building Wednesday was not dangerous, following a two-hour hazmat response and a street closure. This was the second mail-related scare at the building in less than three months.

The Mountain View Fire Department and the Mountain View Police Department responded to reports of a “suspicious piece of mail” received at 2690 Casey Ave. shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 20. About an hour later, the regional U.S. Postal Inspection Service was called in to investigate, and concluded that the mail’s contents were not dangerous, according to U.S. Postal Inspector Jeff Fitch.

All three of the involved agencies are tight-lipped on the details of the mail, including whether it was a letter or a package and what was found inside, but stated that it was addressed to Google.

“We responded, working with Google’s security team to determine that the parcel’s contents were not hazardous,” Fitch said. “Exactly what was in there we’re just not releasing, but it was not harmful.”

The response lasted approximately two hours and appeared to involve multiple fire department vehicles, including a hazmat rig, two fire engines and a battalion truck, according to the public safety app PulsePoint. Fire department spokesman Robert Maitland declined to confirm which vehicles were on scene.

The police department’s role was minimal, mostly limited to traffic control. The intersection of San Antonio Road and Casey Avenue was closed during the investigation and was reopened shortly after officials confirmed that the mail was not hazardous.

In a similar incident, the fire department investigated a suspicious envelope containing an unknown substance at the same location on Nov. 27, later determining that the white powder inside the envelope was not dangerous.