Pat Dollard

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Coastal Source:

It was a shocking scene outside a Pooler’s McDonald’s on Wednesday. Nine people were rushed to the hospital and two women were found unconscious on the bathroom floor. Hazmat was called to the scene and Pooler firefighters say a chemical substance caused people to become sick. The scariest part is firefighters don’t even know what caused it.

“We found nothing in the building. There was a cleaning cart in the building. There was nothing there. There was nothing we found on the air monitoring system so at this point, it remains a mystery,” Pooler Fire Chief Wade Simmons said.

Less than 24 hours after firefighters responded to the McDonald’s on Highway 80, one of the victims, 80-year-old Ann Felton, was pronounced dead. Autopsy results may help solve the mystery, but for now, the substance that killed one woman and hospitalized nine others remains unknown.

“We spoke to the health department, they said the structure was clear, we had clear air readings on it, they were not going to come out and reinspect the building,” Chief Simmons said.

Just three hours after two people lay unconscious on the bathroom floor, McDonald’s re-opened its doors.

“If I was the manager, I wouldn’t open up until I found out what it was and what caused it. That’s a lot of people’s lives; a lot of kids’ lives that are in danger,” McDonald’s customer Brandi Craib said.

“To have somebody die at a restaurant because of something they did, and they get to open back up three hours later, that’s ridiculous,” McDonald’s customer Jerry White said.

After reaching out to McDonald’s for a comment, they sent us this statement by e-mail:

“As the owners of this restaurant, my wife and I are deeply saddened by this tragic incident. The safety of our customers and employees has and will continue to be our number one concern. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families who have been impacted. At this point, the authorities have been unable to determine the cause of this incident. After their thorough on-site investigation, the restaurant was deemed to be safe and reopened on Wednesday afternoon. We continue to work with the local authorities to collect more information about what may have happened.”

Even though officials don’t know what the chemical substance is, Hazmat crews and firefighters don’t plan on testing any further. They think cleaning supplies may be to blame. So while almost a dozen people recover in the hospital, it looks like business as usual at McDonald’s.