UPDATE: All Clear at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital After Hazmat Scare

A little powder from a tissue box activated a chain of emergency response actions at in Royal Oak on Monday afternoon, but turned out to be harmless.

An employee in an administration office in the Imaging Center on the south part of the hospital's campus found a white powdery substance in a box of tissue and reported it to the supervisor, hospital and officials said. 

Beaumont officials called the fire department as a precaution and moved four people who were in the office away from the area, Beaumont spokesman Brian Bierley said.  "We always believe it's better to err on the side of caution," he said.

The incident was reported about 1 p.m. and the all-clear was given about 3:15 p.m., Bierley said. 

"We sent a truck over there, but then thought it best to have the county hazmat team take a look," Acting Fire Chief Chuck Thomas said. "They ran three tests on the substance and all came back negative. They determined the substance was not a threat."

The situation didn't impact patient operations, Bierley said, and there were no injuries.

Members of the Oakland County Hazardous Materials Team came in from Pontiac, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Madison Heights, Ferndale, Southfield and Royal Oak, as well as Royal Oak police, Thomas said.

Monday was Thomas' first day on the job as acting fire chief following the retirement of Chief Patrick Mulligan. "It was a nice first day to be acting chief," Thomas joked. "They trying to break me."