Emergency personnel responded to a fire in the Cristol Chemistry building Tuesday. (CU Independent/Lee Pruitt)
A fire in Cristol Chemistry has been extinguished but the area is still being secured, according to Cmdr. Tim McGraw of the CU Police Department.
McGraw said that the emergency call alerting them of the fire came in shortly before 6 a.m., around 5:55 a.m.
CU Police Department sent out an emergency text message alerting students and staff of the fire at 6:43 a.m. Another message was sent at 12:35 p.m. stating that the building will be closed for the rest of Tuesday and that information about reopening will be posted on colorado.edu and CUconnect.
The use of the emergency text alert system coincides with the day that a test of the system was scheduled to occur. According to a CU News Center press release, the day’s drill was cancelled due to the fact that the alert system had already been used in connection with this incident. No information was provided in the press release as to whether or not the test will be rescheduled.
Ralph Bogle, a chemical treatment specialist for CU-Boulder, stands guard at the police line surrounding the Cristol Chemistry building after a fire left the building closed for the first few hours of the day Sept. 29, 2009. In addition to the fire department, Boulder Hazmat teams were required to control the situation. (CU Independent/Lauren Walter)
“There was a fire in one of the rooms [in Cristol Chemistry],” McGraw said. “It’s now out. What the fire department and we are doing now is securing the area.”
Speaking at about 12:00 p.m., CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said that the fire occured in the laboratory in room 120 of Cristol Chemistry, and referred to it as a “flamehood fire.”
“It’s a fire that occurs due to the reaction of chemicals with the air,” Hilliard said, adding that the spinkler system in the lab turned on when the blaze started. “It was so small apparently the [the firemen] could pat it out with their gloves,” Hilliard said.
Hilliard said that the building will be closed until any environmental damage done by the fire has been assessed.
“That’s going to take the better part of today and into tomorrow,” Hilliard said of the reopening process. Hilliard would not speculate as to when on Wednesday Cristol Chemistry will reopen, but did say the that information should come in by early Wednesday morning.
Neither McGraw or Hilliard mentioned any injuries.
“Fortunately it was early in the morning so there weren’t many people in the building,” McGraw said.
Contact CU Independent News Budget Editor Emily Zarka at emily.zarka@colorado.edu.
