Firefighters from Lexington and Hanscom Air Force Base responded to an industrial building on Hartwell Avenue on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 29, after a chemical explosion caused minor damage inside the facility, according to a Fire Department spokesperson.

No one was injured in the blast, which occurred just before 1 p.m. inside the building at 45 Hartwell Ave.

Fire Department Lt. Mark Ferreira said the explosion was caused by gas that leaked from a storage tank into ventilation ducts in the ceiling.

Ferreira said the tank was filled with silane gas, which can become flammable when it comes in contact with air. He said workers were replacing the tank today before the blast.

Ferreira said one worker was in the area when the chemical exploded, but was not injured. He said damage was contained to the ventilation ducts, and the fire did not spread through the building.

URBANA — About 15 people were evacuated from a University of Illinois laboratory building for about 40 minutes after some gas reportedly leaked in one of the labs.

According to an Urbana Fire Department report, firefighters were called to the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, 208 N. Wright St., U, at 2:04 p.m. Monday to respond to a report of a gas leak.

Urbana Fire Department Division Chief Jeff McDuffy said people working in one of the labs were changing a bottle when some residual gas, identified as silane gas, began to escape, setting off an alarm.

McDuffy said the gas was contained within the lab room, and nobody was injured. Those evacuated from the building were allowed to return at about 2:45 p.m. Monday.

MOSES LAKE — Neighbors were alerted to a small fire at REC Silicon Thursday morning.
“It was a fire inside of a wash station ... which is a piece of equipment used to wash other equipment,” said Plant Manager Jeff Johnson. “Because the fire sparked in the plant, we sounded the emergency system. That just how we do it.”
It was in the poly manufacturing plant, where silane gas is used to make polysilicon, which is a component used in electronic manufacturing.
The damage was described as minimal. Johnson said they will conduct a routine investigation to determine the start of the fire and extent of damage.