UptownGS

About 30 minutes ago (6:15pm) today 2/22/2012 I was with my kids and some neighbors kids outside playing when all of a sudden there was this burnt popcorn peppery smell that we all started to smell. It got stronger and then we all started coughing. We rushed our kids inside the house and kept coughing for another 5 minutes.

I've been through boot camp and this smell vaguely reminds me of the tear gas we got hit with in boot camp a few years ago. I'm in Huntington Beach next to the PCH/Newport Beach area. Anybody experience this today? just wondering because there was a low flying airplane at the exact moment but our area tends to have low flying prop planes from time to time.

k7q

iTrader: (37)

pepper spray?

anxiouz

iTrader: (9)

Maybe a neighbor kid threw down a fart bomb thing?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

A few days back, when the winds were picking up and keeping in mind the warmish weather today, many trees will have begun their springtime pollen releases. Last week while in GG I noticed many pine tress giving off the yellowish pollen, you could see clouds of it spread across the neighborhood. Depending on what tress are in the area, this is a high probability.

On our way back through Santa Ana, it was very floral like near the Main Place Mall and Disney areas.

Warm days like this, count on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SL76...feature=fvwrel

UptownGS

Thanks guys... I was a bit spooked but dont want to look like some crazy conspiracy theorist... Wife and I are still coughing, I'm having thick yellow/greenish phlegm as of last night. I feel like somethings stuck in my throat. I think I'll go to the doctors just to be safe.

I also figured some kids up wind must of set off some tear gas or pepper spray and what we got was a very dilluted whiff of it. Not sure but since there are no place to post up these kind of local concerns I figured I'd try out my car guys here at CL!!! I doubt the tree pollens did this too us since there's not many trees around us. We're across the PCH from the beach so no tree's up wind. But thanks for the tip b/c my neighbors allergies are going bonkers. Really interesting.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

isn't there a factory near that area of PCH? would there be some kind of chemical release? trees would explain a lot but i don't see much pollinating trees around the beach area. they are all mostly palms eh?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

I feel for ya, I've had respiratory reactions while at work due to grinding various woods or other organic items. When I had my exposure, within an hour I had all the symptoms. In many ways it is similar to a cold. Mucous, phlegm, coughing, some instances of fever and body ache. Sucks. Doc gave antibiotics and like a cold, it took the normal course and was gone in about a week.

When in doubt, get it checked. Whatever you inhaled is nasty enough to cause this so follow-up on it.