A fire broke out on the ground floor of the Chemistry Building at about 2:40 p.m. yesterday, forcing students and faculty to evacuate.

Diane Brown, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety, said that a staff member "was testing an experiment" was the cause of the fire.

"A small amount of methanol caught fire," she said. "He extinguished himself with a fire extinguisher."

Although only a small amount of supplies was damaged, Brown said the fire could have been more dangerous.

The chemical fire triggered the gas fire suppression system - a system that uses gas rather than water to put out the fire - in the lab.

Brown said the building was evacuated for air monitoring.
Evacuated students gathered calmly around the building, waiting for it to reopen for about an hour.