The UNM Chemistry department got a brief scare Wednesday after Clark Hall was evacuated following a small, contained "flash fire" in one of the building's research laboratories.
An experiment by two graduate and a postdoctoral student involving combustible materials caused the fire.
There were no injuries in the incident, UNM officials said.
The Albuquerque Fire Department was called to Clark Hall shortly before 12:30 p.m. and responded with two fire trucks, said AFD Lt. Lynn Reule. After those units arrived, the AFD Hazardous Materials Team was called as standard procedure when chemicals are present.
In all, six fire trucks jammed into a nearby parking lot with 20 firefighters on the scene.
University police established a large perimeter around Clark Hall stretching from the rear of Carlisle Gym, along the north and west ends of the hall and along the north border of the Biology Annex.
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"We assisted in the evacuation and helped secure the exterior of the building for AFD," said UNM Police Department Lt. Mike Young.
The flash fire ignited in a safety hood inside the research laboratory, said Robert Dunnington, campus safety manager.
Faculty members and graduate students primarily use Clark Hall's research laboratories, which are inside the building's basement.
A flash fire occurs when a solvent reaches its flash point - a chemical-specific temperature that causes it to combust.
"Essentially what they (students) were trying to do was make a dye," said Jim Brozik, assistant professor of chemistry.
The experiment used the chemicals toluene, 4-aminophenal and potassium superoxide.
Toluene is a highly flammable, volatile organic compound and industrial solvent. Potassium superoxide is a powerful oxidizing agent and 4-aminophenol is commonly used in the photographic developing process. It is also used in the manufacture of azo dyes which make colors in fabrics.
The students dissolved the 4-aminophenal inside the toluene and then slowly combined the potassium superoxide. Although the experiment was conducted at room temperature, the toluene reached its flash point after the chemicals were combined, Brozik said.
"The reaction is exothermic (produces heat)," Brozik said. He added that the lesson to be learned from the incident is that "the reaction probably should have been performed in an ice bath."
Dunnington said the experiment was conducted inside a safety hood, which prevents any fire, gas or solid material from escaping.
"The proper hoods were in place and the proper equipment was being worn," he said.
After the flash fire broke out, which lasted for a very brief amount of time, some nearby material caught fire and two of the students used extinguishers to put it out.
Brozik agreed that the students reacted to the fire and the incident exactly how they should have.
"There wasn't even smoke inside the laboratory," he said. "The only bad news was it took us a couple of hours to clean up the hood."
