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 Tuesday. In addition to the fire department, Boulder Hazmat teams were required to control the situation. (CU Independent/Lauren Walter)
The cause of the fire in Cristol Chemistry lab 120 is still being investigated.
According to a CU News Center press release, the fire occurred Tuesday morning at 5:55 a.m. and the CU Campus Alerts text-messaging system notified students at of the incident 6:43 a.m. Another alert was issued via text message at 12:30 p.m. stating the building would remain closed for the rest of the day, which some students said they appreciated.
“It was pretty cool because I didn’t have to go to class,” said freshman open-option major, Kevin Kane.
The cause of the fire is still unknown but researchers believe an experiment could be to blame, said CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard. The experiment may have been exposed to open air or water, causing a chemical reaction capable of starting the fire.
“It is a complex forensic challenge to go back and figure it out,” Hilliard said. “There are theories [of how it started], but the cause is not 100 percent known and we may not get one because the experiment is very complex.”
Hilliard said it will take a few days to assess the damages. Among the known damages is a fume hood apparatus. The severity and extent of the overall damage caused by the fire and sprinklers is still to be determined.
“Water got into the offices, soaked carpets and we will have to see how far the water got into the walls in the one lab and offices adjacent,” Hilliard said.
Hilliard explained the fire was easily contained, most of it extinguished from a single sprinkler head. When the fire department arrived, fire fighters tapped out the remaining flames with their fire gloves.
No one is believed to have been inside the building when the fire started, Hilliard said. One person arrived around the same time as the first responders, but is not believed to have been there when the fire started.
The test of the CU Campus Alerts text-messaging system had originally been scheduled for Tuesday. The system was instead put to action due to this incident. Because officials received sufficient data from the two text alerts that were sent out, Hilliard has said the test will not be rescheduled.
“Instead we are asking…students and faculty who are signed up, if they didn’t get the message to contact ITS,” Hilliard said. “This is only for those who are signed up in the CU Alerts System. Make sure you got two messages.”
Hilliard also urges all CU students and staff to sign up to receive emergency alerts.
There are 18,042 registered users, who make up 49 percent of the total campus population, University Communications spokeswoman Malinda Miller-Huey said.
Classes in Cristol Chemistry returned to their normal schedules Wednesday, but the damaged areas have limited access, allowing only faculty with experiments in the organic chemistry area to enter through a controlled entrance and be escorted to the lab.
“[The faculty] are being taken care of and are able to do work in other places,” Hilliard said.
With National Fire Prevention Week just around the corner (Oct. 4-10), Hilliard said he hopes the incident also raises awareness amongst the student body.
“When we talk about Fire Prevention Week, we are talking more about what individuals can do in their homes and environment, but [the fire] is also a good reminder…that academic work causes these possibilities,” Hilliard said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rose Heaphy at Josephine.heaphy@colorado.edu.
