I Called The Cops And I Am Worried About Retaliation.

i work for a massive grocery chain that is unionized. today, while we were working, we smelled a strong scent of gasoline all through the store. genuinely everywhere. it smelled like it had been poured straight down the vents. we talked to management about it, scared and concerned, and they said it was just a customer that had it on him. it was SO strong and not dissipating for a while, and i got to go home simply because my shift ended. my co-worker also wanted to leave because she did not feel safe. our management told her to stay put and that they “can’t shut down the business for a whole day.”

so i called the non-emergency line in my county and told them about the situation, they immediately connected me to dispatch where i told them the story again and then they send out fire trucks. now our management team is walking around asking employees who called because whoever called “said we weren’t letting people leave,” and they said that “whoever called had to attach their name to the record”

now i did specify to the operator and dispatcher that they weren’t letting employees leave, not customers, but i don’t know if they portrayed that correctly to the firemen or what. but as i was aware, safety protocols would call for a complete evacuation until a safety sweep is performed, right? and i can’t get in trouble for calling nor penalized at work if they find out it’s me, right?