Warwick University blocked drain sparks major chemical emergency

A fire service Hazmat team was called to the scare which turned out to be a strong whiff from a drain



A stinky drain sparked a major chemical alert at Warwick University today.

Students and staff were evacuated after people reported a noxious smell coming from a chemical engineering lab.

Firefighters wearing Hazmat - hazardous material - suits arrived just before 11am and set up special decontamination equipment.

Checks revealed the source of the problem to be a blocked drain, and not a chemical spillage.

A university spokesman said: “As a precaution, when that smell was detected, the building was evacuated.

“The fire brigade were called, they came and had a very thorough look round.”

He added: “Everyone believes that it is just a normal smell from a drain which is possibly partially blocked.

“It is nothing to do with the science conducted in that building.”

The university is now flushing the drains to clear the problem.

West Midlands Fire Service was called to the scene at 10.48am.

A service spokesman said: “A 999 call was initially reported to us as a chemical spillage.

“We sent three fire engines, they each had five firefighters on them. One was from Canley , two were from Coventry.

“We also had a duty officer attend and a hazardous materials specialist.

“The incident involved the smell of an unknown substance, everybody was accounted for.

“Investigations have started to identify the source of this strong chemical smell. No chemical spillage could be found.

“When we left the scene we advised the university to employ a private contractor to make some detailed investigations.

“We advised the university not to use the room until getting the ‘all clear’ from a specialist contractor.”

The university said it expects the building will be open as normal in the morning.

We had something like this at a design and development unit I worked at. My boss reckoned it was one or more of my staff injecting a stink bomb type fluid into the air-conditioning unit as a joke. I assured him it wasn't!

Turns out a contractor had used a very small water trap on one of the sinks and we were getting an occasional blow back. It took ages to find though.