Chemistry lab damaged from fire, sprinklers

Experts are still cleaning the room in the Chemistry building where a fire started Sunday at 4 a.m.\nLaboratory safety manager Chris Kohler said the fire ignited after chemicals in a wash bottle were left too close to a hot plate. The fire then ate away at the protective coating barrier surrounding the lab station and set off the sprinkler system in the room, he said. Because no one was present when the fire occurred, there is no way to know for certain exactly what happened, said Kohler, who is in charge of determining just what caused the blaze.\nThe University is still calculating the dollar amount of damage that occurred. IU is self-insured and no one was injured by the fire so it is likely the issue will be dealt with internally by the University, Kohler said.\nKohler leads seminars periodically on lab safety and first inspected the damage Monday morning. Kohler lead one of the seminars Wednesday to inform students how to be safe while in the labs. He is also involved in the cleanup of the affected lab. \nHe said the fire occurred in a research lab or room where graduate and doctoral students can perform experiments largely unsupervised. Undergraduate students perform predetermined experiments in a much more supervised area.\nThe fire did not damage all of the room, though, as there was a student performing an experiment independently Wednesday in the room.\nKohler said the fire is unlikely to affect undergraduate students, but will affect graduate and doctoral students because the damage happened to the facilities they use, which are separate from the ones undergraduates use.\n"It's definitely a big hit on the research labs because it disrupts their work," he said.\nThe other lab stations in the room affected by the fire are still being used. Devices were placed strategically in the areas affected by the sprinkler system to dry up the water. Water from the sprinkler system has leaked through the floor and caused water damage to the rooms below. Kohler said it could take months before everything dries.\nKohler said incidents requiring his experience with chemical cleanup happen about once a year. With 500 labs on campus the potential of a fire is relatively high, he said. Kohler said knowledge of lab safety can help prevent fires like the one Sunday.