Hazmat crew responds to Desert Hills hotel
At least 1 arrested; situation under investigation

An investigation of hazardous materials at a Desert Hills hotel left several residents out of their rooms Tuesday and led to the arrest of an unidentified suspect.

Desert Hills Fire Department Chief Mathew Espinoza said firefighters were doing a routine inspection of the Twin Palms Inn on London Bridge Road, when they were refused entry by a worker on duty in the front office.

Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene. Upon entry, Espinoza said they found the male worker dumping what could have been hazardous materials into the office toilet.

Hazardous Response Services and the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team both arrived, as at least eight guests or tenants of the hotel were evacuated from their rooms and placed under a cooling tent in the outer parking lot for several hours, while officers from both agencies worked to determine the nature of the material.

Lt. Randy Johnson with the Mohave County Sheriff’s office said at least one person was arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia. Johnson said he was not sure if what was dumped down the toilet was drug-related, but he did not believe it to be.

Hazmat services took samples from the hotel septic tank but were still trying to identify the hazardous material late Tuesday afternoon.

Johnson said more information, including the name of the suspect and type of hazardous material, should be available Wednesday.

According to Espinoza the hotel owner would have to pay a septic tank company from Phoenix to come and clean the hotel’s tank, as a result of the dumping of hazardous material.