By Jill Mendoza
jill@newsroom.byu.edu
BYU grounds crew employees returned to work Monday morning to find a shop in the BYU grounds building damaged from an explosion that shook parts of BYU campus Friday, June 2.
The explosion occurred at 6:10 p.m. in the small engine repair shop near 900 East and 900 North.
Carri Jenkins, assistant to the president, said it was a small explosion in a limited area of the shop.
Robert Cottam, an employee of the BYU grounds crew, examined the shop Monday morning when he came to work.
Cottam said because the shop is a steel building, the damage cannot be seen from the outside. Most of the damage inside includes a lot of smoke damage, a little hole in one wall and blown out windows, he said.
Roy Peterman, the BYU Grounds Director, said architects and engineers are still evaluating the amount of damage.
Peterman said there has never been an explosion before in the grounds building shops.
Peterman also added that if new safety measures were needed to prevent further explosions, they would be implemented.
But, Peterman said he is still waiting to hear the definite cause of the explosion.
According to University Police reports, the cause of the explosion appears to be the result of a chemical fire that started in oily rags. Carbon dioxide tanks near the oily tanks evidently ruptured, causing the explosion.
Deputy Chief Coy Porter of the Provo Fire Department said the explosion appeared to be caused by a gasoline can that exploded.
But the definite cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
Luckily, no individuals were seriously hurt in the explosion.
'It was really fortunate that this explosion occurred late in the afternoon,' Jenkins said. 'If it had happened during the day, eight to 15 employees would have been in the building.'
Students in nearby apartment complexes heard the large boom of the explosion Friday.
Kristian Thomas, 20, a junior from Camano Island, Wash., majoring in elementary education, is a resident of Park Plaza apartments located near the BYU grounds building. Thomas was in a bottom level apartment when the explosion occurred.
'It sounded like someone dropped a refrigerator from the third floor,' Thomas said. 'It was this huge crash (that) smacked against the wall.'
Deputy Richard Healey was first on the scene Friday, after hearing the large boom.
Jenkins said Healey was traveling on 900 East and stopped to investigate the area. Healey found the repair shop partially in flames.
BYU and city officials responded to the scene immediately. At the time they arrived the flames had extinguished themselves, Jenkins said.
Porter said fires like the one ignited from the explosion are often self-extinguished.
'Once the fire burns out all the fuel, it goes right out,' Porter said.
Deputy Healey was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and taken to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center as a precautionary measure.
Jenkins said Healey was later released and is doing fine.
Jenkins also said the explosion does not put nearby residents in danger.
There is no risk of a toxic spill, Jenkins said, because only limited amounts of gasoline and propane were stored in the repair shop.