Working in a lab for any amount of time can lull one into a false sense of security. It’s easy to forget that labs are packed full of dangerous chemicals and reagents, which can explode and cause serious damage if not treated appropriately. This morning, Merck employees received a rude reminder of this oft-forgotten fact, when a small explosion in a storage room forced the evacuation of the entire Merck building, along with a neighboring Emmanuel college building in the Longwood area.

Two workers from a chemical waste disposal company entered a storage room to pick up chemical waste. A local news station reported that “Somehow the chemicals mixed or spilled and the two workers said they heard a small pop and saw a little explosion. “There was a reaction,” said Fleming. “Something caused a minor popping… a little flame.””

The workers sealed off the room and were unharmed by the explosion. Fire trucks and biohazard response teams came on the scene to deal with what was later classified as a “level 3 hazmat situation”.

Just imagining losing all of my data in a lab fire is enough to give me a small panic attack. Fires in labs no matter what the cause, are not very rare. The building I work in now almost burned down from an electrical short; lab members ran out of the building with key reagents and notebooks in hand. Horror stories of the lab fire variety are welcome in the comments, as reminders that 1) scientists are seriously hard-core and cool because they are surrounded by danger, and 2) it is important to back up data and to take good care of potentially dangerous chemicals and chemical waste.