Extra precautions at Houston business after Austin package explosions

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The cluster of package explosions in the Austin area prompted a Houston business owner to make changes.

Antoun Salib of Briargrove Pharmacy and Gifts conducted an emergency meeting with his staff after a package exploded on Tuesday morning at a FedEx facility in Schertz, near San Antonio. His business is also a U.S. Postal Service dealer. He says his business sees more than one thousand packages and letters each day.

“Hopefully, nothing happens here in Houston, but it is crazy," says Salib. "It’s a big concern for us.” He is urgently telling his employees to be more aware of packages and letters and to refuse and report any suspicious packages.

USPS says there are tangible things to look for to determine if a package is suspicious including excessive tape, stains or discoloration on the wrapper, a strange odor, if a package is only addressed to a title and if the package is bulky, uneven or rigid.

Salib says he is also asking his employees to ask customers what is in the packages as another precautionary measure.

"We never had to do that and we hate to do that actually,” adds Salib. He also has an evacuation plan in case of an emergency. He says he is waiting to see if investigators will say what the packages that exploded had in common.

“I’m waiting for officials just to give us some tips on what [is] exactly the link," Salib tells FOX 26 News. "If there is something that we need to look for in those packages that would be great help.”

On the positive side, Salib says most of his customers have been going to Briargrove Pharmacy and Gifts for years and they recognize who is a regular and who is not.