HANCOCK COUNTY – Officials with the Hancock County Prosecutor’s office were instructed to work remotely Friday afternoon after the offices at 2333 E. Main Street had to close down.
Shortly after lunch, prosecutor Brent Eaton said several staff members noticed a burning type smell. Officials from the Greenfield Fire Territory were called, but did not find a fire. Instead firemen noted the building’s HVAC system appeared to have some type of a leak.
“It looked like some type of coolant or Freon leak and you could smell it,” Eaton said. “We don’t know that is was Freon, but if it is, that can be serious.”
Eaton told his staff they had 15 minutes to gather their computers and work. He then instructed everyone to work remotely or from the courthouse if they had a case.
“We had some people who said they felt kind of sick from the smell and that’s a problem,” Eaton said.
Eaton alerted the Hancock County Commissioners about the issue. Officials hope to have someone out to fix the problem as soon as Monday. Eaton said he’ll instruct his staff to work remotely until things are up and running properly.
“We’re working on a contingency plan to get us through,” Eaton said.
Oddly, on a day with a soaring heat index, Eaton noted the concern for a hot temperature growing in the office wasn’t the problem, but rather the smell coming from the HVAC unit was the reason he had his staff leave.
The Daily Reporter will check in on the issue early next week.
