All of the University of Delaware campus buildings that closed and evacuated on Wednesday afternoon for a “safety-related incident” in the Lammot du Pont Laboratory will reopen for classes Thursday morning, the university announced Wednesday night.
The evacuation took place after researchers in the lab “inadvertently produced a small amount of a shock-sensitive explosive chemical,” according to the university.
UD called it an isolated incident and said there is no threat to campus health or safety. No injuries were reported.
Delaware State Police’s explosive ordinance disposal unit removed the chemicals from the lab on Wednesday and took them to a “safe location” on the South Green for a “controlled detonation” at 5:45 p.m., according to the university.
Shortly after police issued the alert about the detonation, a crowd of students gathered across the street from Alison Hall to watch. Police had said there would be a “loud noise” associated with the detonation.
But what started as a flurry of excitement on the University of Delaware’s campus didn’t exactly end with a bang for UD students when a “controlled detonation” on The Green ended with a single “boom” after hours of waiting.
Cayden Walker, a second-semester freshman, was one of those students. He said when he got the notification, he and his friends hurried out.
“We brought a whole crowd with us,” he said, smiling.
When asked if he should instead be studying, Walker explained that it’s the third day of classes for the semester and he didn’t want to miss any possible excitement.
“We don’t really have any homework to be doing so far, so here we are waiting for the explosion,” he said.
By 5 p.m., there were at least several hundred students gathered across the street from The Green, waiting to hear – and hopefully see – something being detonated.
But when the detonation finally happened around 5:45 p.m., the crowd had dwindled down to less than 50 students.
While many details remain unknown, the incident unfolded sometime before 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, when university police announced they had evacuated several buildings and told students and staff to avoid the South Green following a “lab safety incident.”
Memorial Hall, Alison Hall, Hugh Morris Library, Brown Lab and Drake Lab were also evacuated and closed, according to police.
While UD said it was not aware of any injuries, several paramedics were at the scene, and mid-afternoon, New Castle County Emergency Medical Services’ mobile medical aid unit pulled up near the Colburn Lab, which remained open.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s emergency response and prevention unit and its police environmental crimes unit were also on the scene “in a supporting role to lead agency Delaware State Police,” DNREC spokesperson Michael Globetti said.
Local and state responders could be seen outside several science buildings along The Green and Academy Street. Other than the presence of first responders, the Newark campus seemed calm Wednesday afternoon as students freely walked by the buildings.
