Fire extinguisher malfunction shuts down Park Slope Post Office indefinitely
Customers have been told instead to go to a location 0.7 miles away
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The United States Postal Service's post office branch on 7th Avenue in Park Slope has been closed for at least a week and a half, after the USPS told News 12 a stored fire extinguisher malfunctioned in the back office. It added that there is no current timeline for when it will be reopened.
"It foamed up everything, I suppose," laughed Chuck Dorr, who lives nearby and was hoping to mail his taxes, after hearing the news on Saturday.
Brian O'Neil, who was hoping to mail a package, also took the cause in stride.
"I don't think UPS would do that," O'Neil joked.
For some people though, it was less of a laughing matter. A sign on the door notifies customers who need their mail to instead go to the Van Brunt Post Office on 9th Street, which is about 0.7 miles away. Dorr admitted the distance is a long way for a lot of people in the neighborhood.
"I'm imagining that I'll just be planning ahead and trying to bring all my mail to work," said Carly Schonberg, another frequent user of the Park Slope location.
"We've gotten used to failures on the part of government to provide the services we need," sighed another neighbor, who asked not to be named.
"You would think it would be open by now if it's a little fire extinguisher," agreed Door, "but it might be more severe."
While the USPS would not provide any more information about what happened, a firefighter explained to News 12 that extinguishers are pressurized, so in theory, it could have exploded. However, they say if it was being stored as the USPS says it was, it is more likely that the extinguisher ruptured and leaked its chemicals, which could be a health hazard.
"I guess I understand why it's closed but I also feel like you could clean that up in a day, right?" Schonberg wondered.
The firefighter says that anything dangerous happening with a fire extinguisher is extremely rare, since ones in commercial buildings like post offices are usually inspected annually.
