KETCHIKAN — While Ketchikan and Chicago might not have much in common, the First City and the Windy City can share in at least one thing this year: green water flowing through the heart of each city.
A man, just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, dumped dye into Ketchikan Creek, causing it to turn green. Chicago famously dyes the Chicago River green in advance of St. Patrick’s Day each year.
“It was just a prank,” said Ketchikan Police Officer Charles Johnson after talking to the man who put dye in Ketchikan Creek. “He happened to come across some sort of plumbing dye that they use for testing — checking for leaks and stuff — and thought it’d be funny to throw it in the creek and make people wonder why the creek was green.”
The man was not arrested or cited Wednesday afternoon.
“I can’t think of anything criminal that he did,” Johnson said. “They already confirmed that the substance was non-toxic. … I think the biggest problem was the slight panic of everybody trying to respond to a possible environmental disaster when there wasn’t one.”
The Ketchikan Fire Department also responded to the incident.
