About 40 firefighters responded to a chemical explosion in the Tempe campus engineering building Monday night, a Tempe fire department spokesman said. No one was injured.
A professor was working in a lab at the time of the explosion and immediately began to evacuate the building, located on Palm Walk near the Memorial Union. All wings were evacuated, and a section of the sidewalk was blocked off.
Firefighters, some carrying oxygen tanks and axes, were working to identify which chemicals were involved in the explosion and to neutralize any dangerous side effects. Tempe fire investigator Mike Reichling said the department was taking standard precautions to deal with hazardous materials.
“Any time we have a reaction like this, we have to be very concerned about any other chemicals that could react,” Reichling said.
Investigation showed the explosion happened after an acid mixed with a base. The fire department turned the cleanup over to ASU Environmental Health and Safety around 8 p.m., after it was clear no further reactions would occur. The building will remain evacuated until ASU assesses it, Reichling said, but it is expected to open on Tuesday.
Reichling added there was no structural damage to the building — only a cupboard in the laboratory.
One bystander said the building was probably close to empty when the explosion happened. Erica Mattner, a custodian who was in the building an hour before, said most people had already gone home for the night.
Reach the reporter at claudia.koerner@asu.edu.
