Updated: Anthrax Scare at Valley No Real Danger, Officials Say

A bus backfiring in the Lincoln Tunnel caused an anthrax scare in Ridgewood and shut down the entrance to the Emergency Room at Valley Hospital at around 6:00 p.m. on Friday night. Emergency responders from the county declared the substance safe within the hour and hospital officials said the public was never at risk.

Lt. Forest Lyons of the Ridgewood Police Department said a bus backfired in the tunnel and the residue spread onto several vehicles. The driver of one affected vehicle, a Ridgewood resident, believed the discharge from the bus backfiring could have been anthrax, police said.

Panicked, the villager ignored instructions to immediately drive to the nearest hospital, Lyons said. Instead, he drove to Valley where staff told the individual to remain in the vehicle so as to avoid spreading a potential virus to anyone at the hospital and surrounding area.

Maureen Curran Kleinman, Communications Coordinator at Valley, said that the man never entered the ER Unit and a decontamination tent was set up outside, where he was treated by the county Hazmat Unit. He was released at 6:50 p.m., she said.

"The public was never in danger," Kleinman told Patch when reached by phone shortly after the incident. The ER was never closed but traffic was diverted from the usual entrance on Linwood Avenue to the triage area, she added.

Ridgewood police officers were seen at 6:30 p.m. having cordoned off the ER entrance to the outside public with yellow police tape. Medical personnel in white were seen outside. Ridgewood Fire Engine 35 was also dispatched to the scene.

[This report was last updated at 9:45 p.m., Friday night]