Photo by: Greg Lau

A chemical mix in an unoccupied lab in Boettcher Center West Thursday resulted in a small explosion, injuring two Campus Safety officers.

No students were injured. The cost of the damage is estimated at $50,000.

The names of the Campus Safety officers injured have not been released.

They were treated and released from Porter Hospital after inhaling smoke when they entered the building.

About 36 firefighters as well as police and Campus Safety officers were on scene to investigate the situation.

Police closed down Iliff Avenue between University Boulevard and Race Street to investigate the cause.

“We had to err on the side of explosion,” said Lt. Champagne, spokesperson for the Denver Fire Department, on scene.

Firefighters responded at 4:47 p.m. after someone pulled a box alarm in the building following the small explosion.

“The odor was overwhelming,” Champagne said.

He said the explosion was most likely caused by volatile fumes from a hydrocarbon chemical.

Police have not officially determined a cause, however.

“It did involve chemicals, a fume hood, and something catching on fire in the fume hood,” said Theresa Lumsden, a graduate TA who was in the room across from the lab that was on fire.

“We all heard this loud pop and smelled something strange,” she said. After hearing the fire alarm go off, she and her students went outside to the hall. “[We] noticed under the door of the room directly across from us was glowing orange and smoke was coming out from under the door.”

Lumsden said she left as soon as she could, but three students, Rick Babel, Steve Curto and Katrina Keichline wanted to stay to extinguish the fire.

“One of them checked the nob, opened the door, then I went and looked, saw there was a fire in the chemical hood and told everyone to get out,” said Justin Barba, another graduate TA who assisted the students in extinguishing the fire. His lab had an extinguisher in the room.

Curto and Babel extinguished the fire while Barba and Keichline held the door open.

The cause of the explosion and fire that destroyed some lab equipment has been of subject of much speculation.

“I have heard a couple scenarios,” said Lumsden. “One being that there was kerosene left open in the hood which was not venting properly so the fumes collected in the hood and something caused a spark and the hood went up in flames.” The other scenario, Lumsden said, was that “someone left a hot plate on in the hood with their notebook lying on top of it. It caught fire which of course caused the chemicals in the hood to catch fire.”

The lab will remain closed until clean up is finished, DU officials said.