Was playing Cards Against Humanity on the bottom floor when this whole thing went down. Thought it was a simple box pull stunt spreading from the Fur-Fright style prank stupidity at first. But then things just went further and further downhill.
I noticed that only the main area of the hotel had their alarm going and the executive wing seemed to be quiet. Since my room was there I had tried to scour the perimeter for an entrance. By the time I had found one though, that one had been closed off as well and the alarm started in that area as well.
We were pushed from the packing lot to the parking garage across the street next to the convention center. Then they had corralled everyone into the convention center. They kept us to one side and away from the crated canines in there for the dog show. People were starting to become a bit weary after the third time being told to move back further into the center. It got to the point where most were pushed into a quadrant in the rear.
To make matters a little worse, a speculation that the other hotels of the area were turning people away did cause some to miss out on a place to hang their head. The Hilton on the opposite corner had opened up a main room on the bottom floor with water and a place for furries to hold out. Of course another area hotel was asking for money at the door instead of providing help, so one bad apple made the rumor spread that the whole bunch was spoiled.
It's a sad day that I would have rather it have been a stupid prankster pulling an alarm. It's a sadder day when you can add "Furry Convention" to this list; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine#Use_as_a_weapon this is supposed to be the MidWest, not the MidEast.
The fact that the disruption to the convention was minimal and that things went smooth Sunday shows a good tact of both the staff and the hotel keeping it together in the face of this.
In the end though a part of me is still skeptical on the intentionality of this act. On one hand it happened on a stairwell so someone could have tripped and dropped it accidentally. However, the other parts of me look into it more and say that it's statistically unlikely. For 1 it happened on the 9th floor stairwell. That means someone had to be using the stairs on the highest floor of a building in a non-emergency situation which is extremely unlikely.
And two other things: Because the highest floor stairwell is so infrequently used it's a good spot for 'privacy', and perhaps the most damning thing. Chlorine gas is heavier than air. If someone wanted to intentionally spread gas throughout entire building, you'd want to do it on the highest floor.
If there were to be an accidental dropping of the gas on a stairwell the odds are it would have happened in a lower stairwell. Not the highest stairwell in the entire building (which has multiple stairwells).
As far as an 'act of terror', if that's what it was, it was not effective at all. We have no-one stating the purpose of the attack (terrorist tend to want you to know WHY they are doing what they are doing to try and scare you into their way of living/thinking). Odds are more of an individual acting on their own than on behalf of an organization. Could be a relationship issue, an issue with the convention staff, at this point motive is hardest to pin down in such a large con.
Was playing Cards Against Humanity on the bottom floor when this whole thing went down. Thought it was a simple box pull stunt spreading from the Fur-Fright style prank stupidity at first. But then things just went further and further downhill.
I noticed that only the main area of the hotel had their alarm going and the executive wing seemed to be quiet. Since my room was there I had tried to scour the perimeter for an entrance. By the time I had found one though, that one had been closed off as well and the alarm started in that area as well.
We were pushed from the packing lot to the parking garage across the street next to the convention center. Then they had corralled everyone into the convention center. They kept us to one side and away from the crated canines in there for the dog show. People were starting to become a bit weary after the third time being told to move back further into the center. It got to the point where most were pushed into a quadrant in the rear.
To make matters a little worse, a speculation that the other hotels of the area were turning people away did cause some to miss out on a place to hang their head. The Hilton on the opposite corner had opened up a main room on the bottom floor with water and a place for furries to hold out. Of course another area hotel was asking for money at the door instead of providing help, so one bad apple made the rumor spread that the whole bunch was spoiled.
It's a sad day that I would have rather it have been a stupid prankster pulling an alarm. It's a sadder day when you can add "Furry Convention" to this list; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine#Use_as_a_weapon this is supposed to be the MidWest, not the MidEast.
The fact that the disruption to the convention was minimal and that things went smooth Sunday shows a good tact of both the staff and the hotel keeping it together in the face of this.
In the end though a part of me is still skeptical on the intentionality of this act. On one hand it happened on a stairwell so someone could have tripped and dropped it accidentally. However, the other parts of me look into it more and say that it's statistically unlikely. For 1 it happened on the 9th floor stairwell. That means someone had to be using the stairs on the highest floor of a building in a non-emergency situation which is extremely unlikely.
And two other things: Because the highest floor stairwell is so infrequently used it's a good spot for 'privacy', and perhaps the most damning thing. Chlorine gas is heavier than air. If someone wanted to intentionally spread gas throughout entire building, you'd want to do it on the highest floor.
If there were to be an accidental dropping of the gas on a stairwell the odds are it would have happened in a lower stairwell. Not the highest stairwell in the entire building (which has multiple stairwells).
As far as an 'act of terror', if that's what it was, it was not effective at all. We have no-one stating the purpose of the attack (terrorist tend to want you to know WHY they are doing what they are doing to try and scare you into their way of living/thinking). Odds are more of an individual acting on their own than on behalf of an organization. Could be a relationship issue, an issue with the convention staff, at this point motive is hardest to pin down in such a large con.
We'll see what the investigation fleshes out.