November 2, 2005

Early-morning fire damages Lilly Hall labs and offices

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A fire at Purdue University's Lilly Hall of Life Sciences on Wednesday morning (Nov. 2) caused $100,000 in damage, most of it from water.

The fire started in a laboratory where a chamber containing research samples caught on fire, and the fire spread up the walls of a second-floor laboratory.

Three sprinklers were activated, and the Purdue Fire Department was alerted at 5:26 a.m., said Kevin Ply, deputy fire chief.

"When we reached the building, we were met by the building services workers who directed us to the fire, which by that time was largely extinguished by the sprinklers," Ply said. "We finished putting out the fire, but the water had done elaborate damage to the lab as well as labs below on the first floor and basement levels."

The fire also caused a pipe to melt, releasing a large volume of water. The water spread to as many as10 labs and offices, according to the Fire Department report.

Fire Department personnel left the scene at 7:46 a.m.

There were no injuries.

Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu

Source: Kevin Ply, (765) 494-6910, (765) 418-1515 (c), kmply@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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