Environmental Dangers
In part 2, I’ll discuss some environmental
dangers that you will eventually run across if you decide to stay in this
field. Pre-scouting an investigation site for dangers is a must in this line of
work and one needs to protect themselves and their co-workers from hidden
danger. I hear this lot from new investigators, where they see an old abandoned
multi level building and come back at night to investigate it without checking
it out first, only to find a surprise in the dark like falling through a hole in
the floor, or stumbling down onto a pile of broken glass. Environmental dangers
include the condition of the structure you are about to investigate. Is the
structure sound enough to hold itself up with multiple people walking about? If
there are stair cases, are they structurally sound enough to hold the weight of
people? Open trap doors or big holes in the floor can be a big surprise if you
happen to fall in one while walking around in the dark.
An old mine shop building that we
investigate quite regularly, has a large 3 foot diameter hole in the floor.
This is located in a hallway and in the dark, is very difficult to see. The
drop to the pipe covered concrete basement below is 25 feet, straight down.
Another old mine shop building that gets visited a lot, had a 5 foot square
hole in the middle of a hall right after a turn. Again at night this danger is
hard to see and has a 15 foot drop onto a concrete floor below. Old buildings
with multiple floors can have sections of flooring missing. I did an old
boarded up hotel in Seattle, WA many years back and when I got to the fifth
floor, there was a hole big enough to put 20 people in and it was open all the
way into the basement from the 5th floor. How would it be to stumble
into that trap without knowing firsthand about it?
Things hanging from ceilings can be a
problem too. Old electrical conduit, pipes, boards and metal brackets can hang
freely in the dark waiting for some unsuspecting investigator to run into it
face first. A lot of places that we investigate has these dangers and even
knowing that they exist, doesn’t guarantee someone not hitting it.
Missing stair cases is another problem you
will need to keep in mind. At a popular location here in Utah, scrap metal
hunters has taken the entire metal stair case out of a mine building. This
stairway led to the outside of the building from the second floor, which is
approximately 18 feet, straight down. At night someone unknowingly could walk
out the door and fall. In old multiple level buildings, I’ve seen upstairs
walls missing, exposing the outside.
Broken glass, old nails, and wood splinters
can cut or bruise and needs to be dealt with before hand. Watch for big pieces
of broken glass that’s still hanging in its frame work, as these are extremely
dangerous. Nails can be a big problem to deal with. Watch where you walk, you
don’t want to step on one. I stepped on a big long rusty nail at an old ranch
location while conducting an EVP session. I had to leave early to go to the
doctor’s office. Big nails are my weakness. We were in the LaSal Mountains
investigating an old mine site and this time I ran a giant spike into the palm
of my right hand. This goes to show you that no matter how careful one is;
sometimes it’s not being careful enough.
The important thing to remember is to check
things out first and please don’t try investigating a location without
evaluating it first. The last thing you want to do is to take someone to the
hospital, or have to call 911. A little common sense and time will go a long
way in keeping a disaster from occurring and ruining an investigation. I’ll
talk about Biological dangers in part 3, so stay safe and happy hunting.
Ron Johnson
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