Multiple fire crews responded to a two-alarm fire at Battelle's headquarters on King Avenue on Wednesday morning. The fire has since been extinguished, with no injuries reported so far.
Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin says a staff member was working in a lab when the fire started.
“This morning at approximately 8:21 a.m., we received a 911 call from Battelle Labs at 505 King Avenue on a report of a fire in one of the laboratories,” Martin said at the scene. “The caller said there were some chemicals on fire. Apparently, this employee was doing some experiments.”
Battelle is a Columbus-based non-profit research and development organization, with a number of government contracts. The lab fire drew responses from the Grandview Heights and Clinton Township fire departments along with the Columbus Division of Fire.
“We were able to get the fire out,” Martin said. “At this time, we’ve got no reports of injuries with Battelle employees or firefighters.”
However, since the fire was in a lab, Martin said the department is monitoring close to 30 crew members who may have faced chemical exposure.
“We just are going above and beyond to make sure that we don’t bring contaminants back to the fire station or somebody has something that could be taken care of now and we don’t, and they end up sick tomorrow,” Martin said.
An investigation into the fire is ongoing.
