WASHINGTON – Firefighters extinguished a small blaze at the University of Maryland College Park Monday afternoon that prompted the evacuation of an academic building and alerting HazMat teams.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS responded to smoke in the J.M. Patterson building at roughly 3:15 p.m. They found a working fire in room 2225 with a possible extension to the floor above, a department release states.
They reported the fire had been contained about a half hour later.
A campus alert had advised anyone nearby to evacuate and stay away from the area due to a “major fire.” The school was not holding classes because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, and only a few people had to be evacuated.
There were no reported injuries.
As a precaution, firefighters alerted the Hazardous Materials Team because of the potential involvement of the chemicals in the building.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The facility is home to multiple engineering labs and organizations, including the school’s Department of Fire Protection Engineering.
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