The Times

August 10, 1994

Blaze

… tional Health and Safety keeps up to date on safety regulations and educates people who use the university’s labs, Harmon said.

“They monitor what goes on in the labs for compliance and all our records are monitored by the appropriate state and federal agencies,” he said.

University officials said fire-fighters have been called before because of lab fires, but this may have been the first response by a hazardous materials team.

Princeton firefighters were called to Frick Hall by campus security after people in the building reported the fire. The Princeton firefighters called in Trenton Fire Department’s hazardous materials squad, even though the situation appeared to be under control.

“BETTER SAFE than sorry,” said Princeton Fire Chief Benjamin War-ren. “We had a combination of unknown chemicals.”

Three people were exposed to smoke before the firefighters arrived. They were the woman whose experiment burned, a man who happened to enter the lab after the fire began, and a third man who helped put out the fire. Harmon did not identify those people. The three took off their clothes inside plastic shower stalls set up by the fire; fighters outside Frick Hall, where they were doused clean of any possible contaminants.

Dozens of people left Frick Hall and adjoining Hoyt Hall after the fire triggered an alarm. They were not allowed to enter the buildings for 2% hours. William Street was closed and people were ordered to remain behind yellow tape strung on the opposite side of the street from Frick.

Cavallaro said that when the alarm sounded, he was working Nsth “nastier stuff” than what burned. He and others were anxious to get back to their work.

“There are plenty of other people who had stuff in there that could be critical,” he said. “It could be ruined, or who knows? It’s kind of scary when you just leave everything the building unattended and people have reactions running.”