Motorcycle Crash, Chemical Odor Led to Haz-Mat Response

It was not a crashed mobile drug lab from Lehigh County Haz-Mat and the Department of Environmental Protection's Emergency Response Program, as earlier reports indicated.

According to , the day's events began around 3:13 p.m. when Dean A. Tomsic, 51, crashed his Harley-Davidson motorcycle near the intersection of Old Allentown and Male roads.

When police arrived, according to a press release, the motorcycle was on the side of the road, and Tomsic had been taken back to his home on Old Allentown Road.

When police and Bushkill Township EMS found Tomsic, they discovered that he was injured in the crash.

As Tomsic was placed in the ambulance, the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) detected a strong “chemical type” odor. Officials from the then requested a Haz-Mat response for decontamination of Tomsic before he was transported to the hospital.

Two EMTs felt symptomatic from being exposed to the chemical, according to police. Tomsic and the two EMTs were decontaminated by members of the Lehigh County Haz-Mat Response Team and transported to local hospitals for observation.

Haz-Mat officials then checked inside Tomsic's home for possible contamination or exposure and found the home to be safe.

"Earlier erroneous reports suggested police suspected the home was possibly containing a methamphetamine lab," the press release states. "At no time did any Bushkill Township Police officer advise via 'radio reports' that the home was a suspected methamphetamine lab. The Bushkill Township Police does not monitor Northampton County Fire radio reports."

Bushkill Township Police continue to investigate the crash.