Argon leak triggers hazmat response on Texas Tech campus Thursday night

Mateo Rosiles, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Updated ·1 min read
Lubbock Fire Rescue responds to the Texas Tech Experimental Sciences Building II due to "an unknown gas leak" on Thursday, July 20, 2023. An all-clear signal was given after 11 p.m. after crews were on the scene for about an hour.
Lubbock Fire Rescue responds to the Texas Tech Experimental Sciences Building II due to "an unknown gas leak" on Thursday, July 20, 2023. An all-clear signal was given after 11 p.m. after crews were on the scene for about an hour.

Lubbock Fire Rescue's hazardous materials team and other emergency personnel responded to Texas Tech for a reported gas leak Thursday night in the Experimental Sciences Building II on the northwestern portion of campus.

The university issued a TechAlert instructing the campus community to avoid the area around 10 p.m. Thursday.

LFR hazmat was initially dispatched for "an unknown gas leaking inside the structure," according to a tweet from the department, but the gas was later determined to be argon, an inert gas that poses no threat to people or property. Argon is a nonflammable, nontoxic and extremely stable noble gas used in a wide variety of scientific applications.

The container of argon was removed from the building and the university issued an all-clear just after 11 p.m.

The Avalanche-Journal's Alana Edgin and Alex Driggars contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Argon leak triggers hazmat response on TTU campus Thursday night