Small spill at SFU

By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 13, 2006


The Burnaby fire department's hazardous material team went back to school for a brief time on Thursday afternoon as they cleaned up a minor chemical spill in the science department at Simon Fraser University.

A small amount of boric acid powder was apparently mixed with water and the resulting fumes caused respiratory problems for one person who was treated at the scene, said assistant fire chief Les Strange.

"It was more of a training exercise than anything," Strange said. "It was a pretty minor incident."

The chemical is typically used in antiseptics, flame retardants and insecticides, and can be found naturally in volcanic ground.