UPDATE: Chemical Spill Ties Up Traffic on Burnsville Parkway

Updated 9:25 a.m. on Aug. 3 

New details have emerged in what was initially though to be a chemical spill at a Burnsville hotel.

"It took us a little time to put the details together," said Sgt. Dan Bianconi, a member of the Dakota County Drug Task Force.

The incident first came to authorities attention after a call came through from America's Best Value Inn.

"The immediate details were pretty incomplete at the time," Bianconi said. "We were dispatched to an unknown chemical reaction that was thought to be narcotic related."

At the same, authorities in Apple Valley were responding to a suspicious incident in the 12000 block of Germaine Avenue, where a neighbor had seen white smoke emanating from an open garage door. The couple who resided in the house took their 4-year-old daughter and fled the scene.

They ended up at the roadside inn on Burnsville Parkway, where they stayed for two or three hours before the call came through to the BPD. When law enforcement arrived, members of the family were suffering from eye and skin irritation, perhaps as a result of the incident at their home.

The source of the smoke is not yet known for certain, Bianconi said. It could be the result of a home methamphetamine lab gone awry, as was reported earlier. However, Bianconi said authorities are still waiting on definitive evidence.

"We believe with certainty that drugs were involved in this case, but we can't say positively what it was yet,"

Bianconi said officials are currently drafting a warrant for the residence and awaiting laboratory results. As yet, no arrests have been made, though the male party was detained for some time. He has been released pending further investigation.

Updated 4:19 p.m. on Aug. 2 An incident on at American's Best Value Motel on Monday was an arrest for what may have been a meth lab — not a chemical spill as previously reported.

Sgt. Rory Bochniak said that the Burnsville Police Department was originally called to the roadside inn to respond to a medical emergency, but found a Hazmat team when they arrived. Bochniak said that the call originated out of Apple Valley, where authorities were investigating a family who may have been involved in a meth making operation. Bochniak said that one arrest was made, but referred other questions to the Apple Valley PD and the South Metro Drug Task Force.

Burnsville Patch has contacted these agencies and is awaiting further details.

Aug. 1: Traffic was stopped this morning at Burnsville Parkway near the America’s Best Value Inn hotel. A Burnsville Police Department spokesman said the cause of the tie-up was a minor chemical spill.

Earlier this morning, several police and fire vehicles were on the scene, but Burnsville Police Sgt. Rory Bochniak said authorities had finished clean-up and would be leaving the scene shortly.