Pipe explosion temporarily closes down Vandenberg Hall

Vandenberg Hall was evacuated after a pipe exploded from routine maintenance this afternoon.

According to Cora Hanson, manager of environmental health and living, the pipe let go while a contractor was conducting a pressure test on the refrigerator lines. No one was injured.

“We evacuated the building right away,” she said. “We had the (Auburn Hills) fire deparment respond along with the HAZNET team and we swept the area with oxygen meteres to make sure we didn’t have any residuals. We ventelated it as quickly as we could.”

According to Hanson, the building was closed for approximately 30 minutes to clear it of fumes and to run an oxygen test.

“The response was pretty much textbook, the guy was trained … he knew what to do,” she said.

Though Hanson said emergency officials responded quickly, she was disappointed in the response of the students in the building.

“Whenever we hear a fire alarm, we have to leave the building immediately,” she said. “I was chasing people out of the building even when I got there.”