Fire and smoke cause evacuation of USU building
Hundreds of students got out of class after a small fire forced an evacuation at about 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Eccles Science and Learning Center complex.
USU Police Lieutenant Steve Milne said the fire was caused by a heater that malfunctioned in the Maeser Lab side of the building on the second floor. The heater was used to heat a plastic water bath in a research classroom and caught the plastic on fire, he said.
“[The heater] malfunctioned and didn’t shut off when it was supposed to,” he said.
No one was injured.
USU Fire Marshal Steve Bell initially doused the fire with an extinguisher, Milne said, but had to leave because of excessive smoke.
There were also some problems with getting the building’s ventilation system working after the incident was resolved, preventing students from returning to their classes.
USU sent two fire engines and two fire trucks to respond, all of which parked on the building’s southeast side. A Logan fire engine was called for, but arrived after the fire was extinguished.
No one was in the classroom when the fire started, Milne said.
There was some charring damage done to cabinets in the classroom, but he said there is not yet a monetary estimate of the damage.
Students were allowed back into the building about an hour after the incident for 2:30 classes.
This is the second evacuation of the building this semester. In January, there were two incidents, one which in included a solid spill but did not warrant an evacuation. The second, a pyridine spill, occurred later that week and the building was evacuated.
-emilieholmes@cc.usu.edu
Logan City firefighters exit the ELSC, where smoke filled a lab after a heating element was left inside a plastic tub. (Photo by John Zsiray)