Thursday, 4:30 PM
Small fire evacuates lab at Boston Medical Center
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff
A plastic container in a laboratory at Boston Medical Center caught fire this morning, resulting in smoke but no injuries or damage, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
The container, carrying a salt solution, was being used by researchers in an endocrinology lab on the second floor of the building at 670 Albany St., said Maria Pantages, a Boston Medical spokeswoman.
The researchers said they believed they had put the container into a machine that would spin its contents, Pantages said. Instead, the device was both a spinner and a hot plate, and about 11:45 a.m., researchers smelled smoke.
The building was evacuated as a precaution and emergency units summoned. Within 45 minutes, she said, the building's occupants were allowed to return. In March, smoldering medical waste caught fire in a sterilizing machine in a lab at the Boston University School of Medicine. The BU medical school and Boston Medical Center are affiliated institutions.
