March 2004 - Mike Halligan, associate director of environmental health and safety at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, knew that the campus fire-safety program had to be reviewed after two fires occurred in wet chemistry laboratories. One fire was caused by an unplanned reaction when two compounds were mixed together in a small beaker. This fire was contained by a fume hood and by the graduate student who used a nearby fire extinguisher to put out the flames. The damage was minimal because the use of the fire extinguisher prevented the fire from spreading to other materials within the fume hood.
