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MIT building evacuated after hydrogen erupts in flames in an enclosed space in one lab

By adamg on Wed, 11/20/2024 - 3:58pm

Cambridge firefighters responded to MIT's Building 18 at 21 Ames St. after hydrogen burst into flames inside a hood shortly before 12:30 p.m.

The fire, in Rm. 121 on the first floor, forced the evacuation of the entire building.

Firefighters reported the fire was knocked down shortly after 12:40 p.m.

Neighborhoods: 
Cambridge
Topics: 
Fire
Free tagging: 
MIT


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Comments

By Don't Panic on Thu, 11/21/2024 - 1:55am.

It's a shame MIT couldn't afford to equip their fume hoods with a FIRETRACE ® system. MIT is where the poor people go to become scientists, right? /s

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By Lanny Budd on Thu, 11/21/2024 - 9:34am.

I worked for a multinational chemical company with a couple of buildings in Boston. They completely remodeled a five-story building for us. Super nice labs, modern HVAC, fire sprinklers, the works. They were super focused on safety. We suggested to them that we install something like the Firetrace system mentioned above in our fume hoods. Hell, every commercial kitchen has something like that. But no, it had never been tried and was expensive.

So what happened? A small fire started in a hood one night. It climbed up the fume hood ventilation and got above the sprinklers and into the ancient 12 x 12 timbers of the ceiling.

End of building.

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