DENVER — Police cleared suspicious items that forced the evacuation of a section of the main terminal at Denver International Airport on Tuesday afternoon and no threat was found, the Denver Police Department said.
Bomb-sniffing dogs made a positive hit on some packages inside the west side of the terminal. It turned out the packages contained spices and oils, and were not a danger.
Officials said it is not unusual for dogs to indicate false positives when checking luggage.
To be cautious, police evacuated the west side of the main terminal at levels 5 and 6, from doors 600 to 610, which includes the ticket counter at American Airlines, during the incident. They also evacuated the baggage claim area at level 5.
The threat came from packages found in front of one of the airline ticket counters. The Transportation Security Agency reported the packages to airport authorities. Reports said dogs sniffed the packages and alerted officials.
Denver police bomb squad was on the scene, as well as the FBI as the situation developed over the course of about three hours.
.@DenverPolice has cleared the suspicious items. No threat found. West terminal will open to the public in a few minutes.
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
Levels 6 and 5 are open to passengers. Level 6 remains closed to vehicles while police clear out.
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
Police and the airport made the decision to evacuate because the alert was strong enough to take necessary precautions.
“Any day of the week, any time this is what we would do. This is our standard procedure for anything suspicious,” airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.
The airport also closed the roadway into the west terminal until officials could evaluate situation. Vehicle traffic was allowed to the east side.
Flight delays were possible because the situation affected several airlines such as American, Air Mexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways. Passengers with outbound flights might have to deal with some delays.
The airlines coordinated with each other to move baggage to the east side of the terminal as to not delay arriving passengers.
RTD riders also dealt with delays that should be over now. RTD said all SkyRide, 145X and 169L buses are resuming service at the west terminal.
DPD is evacuating a section of the main terminal on the west side between doors 600 and 610 to investigate a possible security threat
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
Evacuation area includes west side of the main terminal levels 5 and 6, from doors 600-610 – flights continuing
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
No vehicle traffic is being allowed on the west side of the terminal. East side remains open to passengers.
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
Affected ticket counters include: American, Aero Mexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa, British Airways – flight delays are possible
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
Level 5 baggage claim/west side is currently closed. Airlines are working to coordinate baggage delivery to east side.
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 22, 2016
