Lang
3/28/22
Online police records indicate the smell that caused the evacuation of a University of Iowa building last week was caused by a student experiment.
According to a Hawkalert sent out just after 1:15 Thursday afternoon, a strong gas smell caused the evacuation of the Chemistry Building on North Capitol Street. A second Hawkalert sent about a half-hour later indicated Iowa City firefighters were allowing people back into the building, and a third and final Hawkalert sent at 2pm indicated the issue had been resolved.
The online Iowa City Police Daily Activity Log indicates just before 11:30 Sunday morning a caller reported that the smell was caused by a research student’s experiment. The caller wanted to alert police that the student was going to be getting rid of the project. That process was estimated to take about three hours, and the caller wanted police to be aware that more suspicious smells could be possible in and around the Chemistry Building during that time.
A check of Sunday’s online police records does not show any further calls about the issue.