BIRIMINGHAM, Alabama -- Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service gave the all-clear after a morning probe into a suspicious substance found along 2nd Ave North.

The roadway was closed between 24th and 22nd streets for a couple of hours Wednesday morning.

The man who called police said piles of white powder are in the doorways of buildings along 2nd Avenue.

Jerry LaSuer, who lives along Second Avenue, said he saw the substance when he left his downtown home this morning to walk his dog. The groupings of powdery substance are about the size of a softball or a little bigger, and are in front of doorways to downtown homes and businesses.

LaSuer said his partner first spotted the substance late Tuesday night. LaSeur saw it again today and called police.

"It looks like talcum powder,'' he said. "And it looks like it was deliberately placed there."

A white powdery substance is being investigated. (Carol Robinson/crobinson@al.com)

A Birmingham police officer came to take a report and then, as a precaution, notified HAZMAT authorities. Police and firefighters blocked off the roadway and, as of 9:45 a.m., were suiting up to take a closer look.

"I'm sure it's nothing but somebody deliberately put it there, probably to scare us,'' LaSeur said. "I'm sure I just watch too much TV."

Authorities just after 10 a.m. swabbed the substance and put it in a chemical mixture to determine its makeup. They sealed off those tubes at 10:07 a.m. and will wait five minutes before they check it.

BFRS Battalion Chief C.W. Mardis said they weren't able to determine what the substance was, but said it wasn't harmful. "It poses no danger,'' he said.

There was speculation that the piles of power were left by "hashers." Hashing is a not-so-sober running game in which they leave flour or chalk to mark a trail for others to follow. Authorities not confirming that theory, and not investigating it any further.