Student injured in chemical accident


By Keren G. Raz
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Hazmat crews, firefighters and police officers responded last night to a report of a chemical explosion in the Koffler building, 1340 E. University Blvd.

After investigating the scene, officers found there was no explosion, only a broken test tube.

Sgt. Michael Smith of UAPD said around 8 p.m. a student broke a test tube in a lab inside the building.

All the proper procedures were performed to clean up the spill, he said.

After class, a student in the lab who had previous chest and breathing problems, called her father, a scientist, and told him about the spill, Smith said.

"Then the phone game happened," he said.

Around 9:30 p.m., UAPD received a report that there was a chemical explosion and took all the necessary precautions, calling out the Tucson Fire Department and Hazmat teams, crews that respond to hazardous material incidents.

But "it's really nothing," Smith said. "Just a father who got concerned."

÷ Keren G. Raz