Saskatoon's white powder scare cost $66K

A hoax that sent Saskatoon firefighters and police to five separate businesses last week cost the city a lot of money.

According to the Saskatoon Fire Department, the day's work cost them more than $50,000. Apparatus costs are estimated to have cost $39,470, while overtime costs came in at $13,850. Between 40 and 50 firefighters were tied up in the work.

Meanwhile, police estimated $13,500 was spent on covering the incident. Most of that was overtime.

• White powder scare in Saskatoon likely linked to criminal harassment case
• 2 accused released after white powder scare

Police have charged Alexa Amanda Emerson, also known as Amanda May Totchek, with public mischief, mischief and uttering threats. Emerson is well-known to police and the incident may be linked to an ongoing criminal harassment case.

Locations where 5 packages dropped off

8 years ago

Duration 0:25

Five suspicious packages were sent to downtown and north end businesses on Tuesday.

According to police reports, Emerson hired two people to deliver packages containing white powder to five businesses across the city. Police later discovered the delivery people didn't know the contents of the packages, and were released without charges.

The incident tied up downtown traffic for hours, as officials analyzed the contents of the powder, which turned out to be baking soda and talcum powder.