Jones Physical Sciences Center and portions of Main Street are closed after a chemical spill activated the fire alarm in the academic building.
Public safety officials on scene said no one was taken to the hospital and that the situation was under control.
The Columbia Fire Department, Richland County EMS and USCPD are at the scene.
Updated: 7:17 p.m.
USCPD and Columbia Fire Department arrived at the scene after a chemical spill on the sixth floor of Jones.
“There were two students in there working, I’m presuming, and they dropped a bottle, about 16 ounces, of the product and it’s highly flammable and it’s a inhalation hazard,” a Columbia Fire official said. “So they, the students, pretty much just put paper towels, whatever they had, on it and it absorbed most of it. But our guys are just going in there to confirm that, to get the rest of the product up if there’s any there.”
Neither student was hurt during the chemical spill, and the situation is no longer a hazard for students. CFD will enter the building to clean the chemicals and monitor the situation.