Reported gas leak in KU’s Malott Hall a false alarm

It turned out to be a false alarm.

After a Kansas University graduate student reported a possible fluorine leak in a Malott Hall room Wednesday afternoon, the room’s monitoring system detected nothing.

“There’s no evidence of any hazardous material release,” said Todd Cohen, a KU spokesman.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical and KU Public Safety officers responded to the room about 3 p.m. Wednesday after report of a gas leak.

Cohen said students in the basement room were using a laser that has some fluorine-compressed gas fed into it. A graduate student thought something was wrong with the laser and called 911 for assistance.

But detectors in the room did not register anything harmful, Cohen said.

Capt. Schuyler Bailey said public safety officers evacuated only one room in the building. Bailey said one student who was working in the room did ask paramedics to evaluate her as a precaution. She walked to the ambulance, and the student was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Bailey said.

KU’s Department of Environment, Health and Safety also inspected the room.