Boston Fire Department responded to a level-three Hazmat situation in Boston University’s Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering on Commonwealth Avenue Wednesday night after a chemical reaction took place in a storage cabinet and caused a minor explosion.
No one was injured, and very little damage was caused by the ‘explosive effect’ in the third floor laboratory, BFD Chief Joseph Fleming said.
The cabinet is used to store chemical waste prior to disposure, and someone apparently mixed two ‘incompatible’ chemicals, Fleming said. The pressure build up from the chemicals caused the container to burst, which in turn caused the cabinet door to buckle, Fleming said.
‘The concern for us was obviously that we weren’t sure which chemicals were involved,’ Fleming said.
Two students were in the lab at the time of the explosion and left the room immediately. Fleming estimated that approximately 20 to 30 people were in the building, all of whom were evacuated after the BU Police Department pulled the fire alarm upon arrival.
Fleming said the entire BFD Hazmat team was sent to the scene, which ranked the incident as a level-three situation. In order to determine if the area was safe, the team used a gas gauge to detect any ‘combustible or toxic gases’ in the room. The levels weren’t high enough to set off the censor, he said.
‘Everyone did a great job tonight, BUPD was on the scene immediately,’ BU spokesman Colin Riley said. ‘[It] showed all the training and coordination we’ve done over the years with the Boston Fire Department has worked as it should.’
BFD had received the call around 8:45 p.m. and determined the area was safe enough for BU Environmental Health and Safety to take over at approximately two hours later, Fleming said.
‘The students were very helpful,’ Fleming said. ‘They stayed around the whole time in the rain. Everyone was extremely helpful, and it made everything a lot more convenient.’
Although Riley said he could not recall any recent similar incidents at BU, Fleming said this type of accident happens about every three weeks in the approximately 5,000 laboratories in Boston.
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