BANGOR, Maine — The Summer Street Clinic, a small walk-in health clinic that primarily serves Bangor’s homeless and transient population, was evacuated briefly Monday afternoon after some employees smelled an odor similar to that of natural gas and complained of headaches and nausea.
It was the second incident at the clinic in less than two weeks. No one was seriously sickened in either case.
Assistant Bangor Fire Chief Scott Bostock said the department was called to the scene shortly after noon Monday. Clinic staff and clients had already left the building when the emergency crew arrived, he said.
“We went in and tested with gas meters and there was nothing,” Bostock said.
The clinic, operated by Bangor-based Penobscot Community Health Care, was evacuated for the same reason within the past two weeks, said the Rev. Bob Carlson, PCHC president.
The evacuations lasted less than an hour, no clients complained of symptoms and no one was taken seriously ill in either case, he said Tuesday.
“Someone smelled something, and the appropriate thing was to get people out of the building,” he said.
Clinic hours have not been changed due to the incidents, Carlson said, but the space will undergo further air quality testing.
