University of Utah research building evacuated after small chemical explosion

Fire crews evacuated a University of Utah research building after a chemical reaction caused a small explosion Tuesday afternoon.

Two people working with a mixture of highly concentrated “red fuming nitric acid” in a third-floor lab at the Emma Eccles Jones Medical Research building were burned when they improperly mixed chemicals. After the explosion, they washed themselves in the lab and then walked to the hospital for treatment, said Audra Sorensen, Salt Lake City Fire Department spokeswoman.

Sorensen hesitated to describe it as an “explosion,” though she said it technically was one.

No one else was injured. Sorensen didn’t release identifying information about the two people involved.

Because the mixture is highly corrosive, fire crews began evacuating the building, near 2030 East on South Medical Drive, shortly afterward, fire officials tweeted at about 5:30 p.m.

The building holds laboratories and office space for the pathology and biochemistry departments, according to the university’s website.

Several hundred members of the staff, faculty and student body were forced to leave in the evacuation, Sorenson said. They were allowed back inside just after 10 p.m. to collect belongings left behind in the evacuation, fire officials tweeted, but the third floor was still off limits.

Sorenson said the building will likely return to normal operations by Wednesday.