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Chemical Spill at the University of Virginia

By: Venton Blandin
Updated: Wed 9:49 AM, Jan 26, 2005

Hundreds of students at the University of Virginia had their classes interrupted Tuesday afternoon, January 25th forcing the teachers and faculty to evacuate the building.

The cause of the interruption was a chemical spill making the fire department put a call out for two alarms.

The spill happened around 12 o'clock Tuesday afternoon on the second floor of the chemistry building at the University of Virginia. According to the Charlottesville Fire Department and University officials, a student knocked over a one liter bottle of pyridine.

Pyridine is a colorless, flammable, toxic liquid with a putrid odor. The liter of pyridine that spilled onto the lab's floor caused about 200 people including everyone inside the building and construction workers on the building's roof to evacuate.

Twenty-one firefighters from Charlottesville worked with six pieces of equipment to check the chemical's level throughout the process that had no injuries.

A captain with the Fire Department told CBS 19 everyone was allowed to go inside around 1:30 later that day.


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