Something went awry with a laboratory experiment on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus Wednesday morning. Although no one was hurt, 17 were taken to the hospital for precautionary evaluations.
The fire broke out inside a lab in the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building, according to the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, which was called to the scene around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
“Apparently, there was an accident with an experiment that caught fire. We responded to the call, put out the fire, evacuated the building and ventilated the second floor,” said Mike Yourishin, assistant public information officer for the department.
Four students, eight firefighters, an assistant fire marshal, two University of Maryland police officers, a university employee and a contractor were taken for evaluation, the department said.
“I think there was a large amount of smoke associated with the fire,” Yourishin said. “And when you’ve got a large number of people exposed like that to maybe an unknown substance, you want to err on the side of caution.”
The university did not immediately respond to questions about what led to the fire, about the experiment itself, or about the well-being of the students involved.
