Suspicious barrels prompt South Lake Union hazmat response

Streets have reopened in South Lake Union after the Seattle Fire Department closed off an area after discovery of two suspicious 55-gallon drums Wednesday afternoon.

A hazardous materials team was called in to determine what’s inside the barrels found in a lot at Westlake Avenue and Highland Drive.

Spokesman Kyle Moore says officials blocked off the streets nearby as a precaution because of some breezes that could spread any potentially hazardous fumes.

“These particular barrels don’t have placards on them so we don’t know what’s in them. The only thing it has on the marking is the word danger.”

Moore says the owner of the lot doesn’t know where the barrels came from.